Naruko Namikaze, Heroine of The Hidden Leaf
by animeluvr4everndalwayz2014
Summary: What if The Fourth Hokage, survived on the night the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed? What if Naruto was really a girl? What if Orochimaru was good and Sasuke never left the village? What if it wasn't Itachi that massacred the Uchiha clan? And what if Naruko knew how to the control the Nine-Tailed Fox, Sage Jutsu and had completed the Rasengan when she returned from her training.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What if The Fourth Hokage, survived on the night the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed? What if Naruto was really a girl? What if Orochimaru was good and Sasuke never left the village? What if it wasn't Itachi that massacred the Uchiha clan? And what if Naruko knew how to the control the Nine-Tailed Fox, Sage Jutsu and had completed the Rasengan when she returned from her training with Jiraiya? This story takes place in the Shippuden storyline and will follow from the moment Naruko returns to The Hidden Leaf Village, up until how I imagined the war turning out before Kishimoto started releasing that part of the manga, ã I don't own any of the characters or the Shippuden storyline, the only part of this story that belongs to me is my idea. (Author's Note: Naruko will have Tsunade's strength in this fic and Sakura will be specialised in Medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and Naruko will no longer wear orange as much, and she won't be using Sage Mode, the Rasen Shuriken or the Nine-Tails Cloak Mode until the battles against Kakuzu, Pain and the war)

Chapter 1: Naruko Namikaze returns

Minato's P.O.V:

It was a quiet day in The Leaf Village, and no wind was blowing, in fact no wind had blown in the village since Naruko left with Jiraiya-Sensei. It's like all the life of the village left along with her, her team-mates, and Konohamaru Sarutobi and his team-mates had often come to see me asking if I had heard anything about how she was doing, but the last time I'd heard anything about how she was doing, was when I got a messenger toad from Jiraiya-Sensei, with a letter from Naruko, telling me that she was learning Sage Jutsu at Mount Myoboku and that she had done what I couldn't, complete the Rasengan. Now that was a blow to my ego a little, knowing that my Daughter had accomplished something that I couldn't, but still I was proud that she had. Now that I think about it, they should be coming back soon.

Naruko's P.O.V:

There they were, the gates to The Hidden Leaf Village. Pervy-Sage was walking behind me, I couldn't wait to see everyone again, I wanted to see my Dad most of all. I wonder how Sasuke and Sakura are doing, I know before I left Sasuke was going to train under Orochimaru and Sakura was going to train under Tsunade, ironic isn't it, all three members of Squad 7 being trained by the three Legendary Sannin of the Leaf. As we passed through the gates I noticed the Shinobi on gate duty were Izumo and Kotetsu, and I heard them talking as I set foot into the village for the first time in 2 and a half years "Hey now, is that who I think it is?" "Sure looked like it. Things are going to get pretty interesting around here again, aren't they" "No doubt about that" I noticed then that no wind had been blowing in the village, but as soon as I walked through the gates, a gentle breeze began to blow.

Sasuke's P.O.V:

Sakura and I were on our way to the main gate, to get the daily report for the Hokage, on the way we bumped into Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi and they decided to tag along with us. When we reached the gate I noticed Izumo and Kotetsu were smiling like idiots. "Hey there you guys, what can we do for you?" "Sakura and I are here for the daily report for the Hokage" as Kotetsu was handing it over, Izumo said to us all "So you don't know yet?" "Know what?" the five of us asked together, it was Kotetsu that answered us "There's a surprise waiting for you guys in the village" then Izumo added "We were pretty shocked when they walked through the gates" it was then I realised they could only be talking about two people, Sakura must have too because she said "Sasuke, do you think?" "It's possible Sakura, lets go see if it's who we think it is. Come on!" as we ran into the village I couldn't help but hope it was Naruko, I looked at the others and noticed they had the same hope in their eyes.

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were in the centre of the village now and I wanted to see it all, "Hey Pervy-Sage, watch my bag for a few minutes please" with that I put my bag on the ground and ran up a lamp-post we were near without waiting for his reply, but I did hear him say "Always rambunctious" once I reached the top I looked around, "Oh man the village hasn't changed one bit. I'M HOME EVERYONE! NARUKO NAMIKAZE, HAS RETURNED TO THE HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE!" I yelled out pumping my fist towards the Hokage Monument. "Man I'm feeling so nostalgic right now" then I noticed something strange about my Dads stone face "Whoa they added a Leaf Headband to my Dads face on the stone monument. Wonder how he convinced them to do it?"

Minato's P.O.V:

"ACHOO! Someone's talking about me"

Naruko's P.O.V:

I was looking out over the village when I heard someone calling my name I looked down and saw…

Sasuke's P.O.V:

As we were nearing the centre of the village I noticed someone extremely familiar, standing at the bottom of a lamp-post looking up "Sakura, look it's Lord Jiraiya" and I pointed to where he was standing when she looked at me "Yeah I see him. If Lord Jiraiya's there it can only mean he's looking up at… " and we both said together "NARUKO!" we ran up to him, looked up and there she was looking out over the village so I yelled up to her "Naruko! Naruko is that you?!" she looked down at us and Sakura yelled "When did you get back to the village Naruko?!" "Oh! Just now!" and she jumped down to meet us.

Naruko's P.O.V:

Sakura and Sasuke along with Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi. After Sakura asked her question and I answered her, I jumped down to meet them "Long time no see, huh guys?" it was great to see them again, by the looks of things Sakura had finally gotten over her obsession with Sasuke, as she wasn't blushing and fawning over him anymore, and Sasuke had gotten taller as well and probably stronger too. Then Sakura did something that shocked me she hugged me, she had definitely changed she'd never hugged me before "Welcome home, Naruko. It's good to have you back, the village hasn't been the same without you." I couldn't help but hug her back "Thanks Sakura, it's good to be back. I've missed all of you and the village so much." Sasuke spoke up then "Well, it's certainly been too quiet without you around pulling your pranks." I couldn't help but laugh at this "Sasuke, I stopped pulling pranks the moment I left the village, I've matured a lot since then" to which Pervy-Sage spoke up "She's telling the truth, she hasn't pulled any pranks or eaten any Ramen since we left the village 2 and a half years ago." the last bit definitely shocked everyone, Ramen was the one thing I couldn't live without. Then Sakura spoke up "Hey wait a sec, Naruko you're the same height as me now!" I used my hand to measure our heights "Yeah, I am. I guess I finally hit a growth spurt whilst I was gone" Sasuke started laughing at that, and Sakura and I couldn't help but join in, calming down I said "I'm not the only one whose changed. You guys have as well". All of a sudden Konohamaru yelled out "Hey! Naruko!" I turned to him and he performed the Sexy Jutsu which made Pervy-Sage go crazy and Sakura go white with horror "So what do you think, I'm no longer lacking in the chest department, or the curves huh?" he said after he cancelled the jutsu, I couldn't help but laugh again and he looked shocked that I had, so to clarify, I told him, "Konohamaru, I'm not that silly little kid anymore, and you shouldn't use that Jutsu anymore either, it's beneath a Shinobi with your potential." He looked down with a blush on his face, I could tell everyone was shocked by my statement, even Pervy-Sage.

Sakura's P.O.V:

After hearing her say that, I couldn't help but think, _"Wow Naruko, you really have matured haven't you, it's not just the outside that's changed? You've grown up as well. I know it's strange but I'm going to miss the old Naruko a little bit. Knowing you, you've probably learnt some amazing new Jutsu's"_

Sasuke's P.O.V:

Was this really the same Naruko Namikaze? She really has matured, now that I get a good look at her, she looks a lot stronger, and personally I think she looks more beautiful than ever. '_DID I REALLY JUST THINK THAT?!_'

Naruko's P.O.V:

"So did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" this question was directed at everyone but it was Sasuke that answered first "Well we found out something interesting about the night of the Uchiha Massacre" I was shocked by this normally Sasuke wouldn't talk about that "What's that?" he had my attention now, "Well, it turned out it wasn't Itachi that massacred the Uchiha Clan, it was one of the Elder Council members, Danzo. Whilst you were gone your Dad ordered an investigation into the massacre, he thought something wasn't right about it, and the Anbu found documents in the offices of all the Elder Council, detailing the plan to massacre the Uchiha." I was shocked speechless by this but asked anyway "So, all that stuff about your father and the rest of the Uchiha Clan planning a coup de¢tat was…fabricated?" "Yeah, Danzo used a Transformation Jutsu to turn into Itachi, and killed them all, he and the other Elders were put to death, for betraying the Leaf Village last week. My brother has been innocent all along, so the Hokage is planning to have his name removed from the Bingo Book, and has sent Anbu out to search for him and bring him back to the village so he can be reinstated as a loyal Shinobi to the Leaf, when the villagers and Shinobi found out the truth about the massacre, many of them tried to get to the Elders themselves, but the Hokage made it clear that they were going to be put to death for their crimes against the Leaf." that was a lot to take in after just getting back to the village, especially with what Pervy-Sage and I had found out about Itachi on our journey "But it was also the plans they had for you and your Father, that got them killed as well Naruko." it was Sakura that said this, "What do you mean Sakura?" I had a feeling it had something to do with the Nine-Tailed Fox, everyone in the village both young and old knew that it was sealed inside me, and of course when I was a child everyone in the village was cautious around me because of it, but there had never been any hatred for me or towards me as the Foxes Chakra had never shown itself, due to the Chakra Chains I inherited from my Mother's clan, The Uzumaki Clan "Well, I did some research after we all found out about this, when a Jinchuriki sees someone they hold dear killed, they lose control of the Tailed-Beast sealed within them, once you returned, the Elders planned to have your Father murdered in front of you, so that you would lose control of the Nine-Tails and go on a rampage, then they would reseal the Fox into another child and turn he or she into a weapon to be used in times of war." everyone was silent at this revelation, Konohamaru then asked Sakura "Is that true? I knew they'd also been charged with a plot against the Hokage and his family, but they never told us what it was" she and Sasuke just nodded I spoke up after that "I think I'm going to be sick. But even if they hadn't of been found to be the ones responsible for the Uchiha Massacre, that plan wouldn't of worked anyway." every one looked curious at this, just as Sakura was about to ask what I meant I said "But I'll explain after I see my Dad, he and both the Civilian and Shinobi Councils should hear it first, then I can tell you guys ok?" everyone nodded at this. Pervy-Sage spoke up then "Well come on kid, we better go see the Hokage, so he knows you're back, and can arrange for the Councils to meet immediately" "Ok, I'll see you guys later" they all nodded and with a wave Pervy-Sage and I were off to see my Dad, Minato Namikaze, The Fourth Hokage

Minato's P.O.V:

I had just finished writing the last of the S-Ranked missions, for my Anbu, when there was a knock on the door "Come in!", the door opened and in walked Jiraiya-Sensei, "Hey Minato, long time no see, how are things in The Leaf Village?" no one else entered after him, I stood from my chair and asked "Um, Jiraiya-Sensei, if you're here Naruko must be too right?" he nodded "Well where is she?" all of a sudden a smile appeared on his face and from behind me a voice said "Right behind you Dad!" I spun around in shock and there, crouched on the sill of the window behind the Hokage's chair, was my Daughter Naruko. Jiraiya-Sensei chuckled "She wanted to make an entrance and surprise you at the same time, judging by your silence I guess she managed it huh Minato?" I could only nod as I was too preoccupied with staring at my Daughter. She had grown, and looked a lot stronger now, and she looked like her Mother a lot more now "Hey Dad, you ok? You've been staring at me for a while now" that snapped me out of it, I walked towards her and pulled her off of the sill so she was standing up in my office and pulled her into the biggest hug I could give her "Naruko, welcome home sweetheart. I've missed you so much." "I've missed you too Dad" it was the perfect reunion until Jiraiya-Sensei cleared his throat I was about to say something to him but Naruko beat me to it "What the hell Pervy-Sage! Can't you see we're having a Father-Daughter moment here!" "Well sorry Naruko, but I thought you had something important to ask your Father?" what was he talking about, whatever it was made Naruko pull away and walk to the front of my desk then she did something she'd never done before, she addressed me as the Hokage and not her Father, "Lord Hokage, I need to request an immediate meeting of yourself, your advisors, the Legendary Sannin, and both the Shinobi and Civilian Councils" I was shocked by this so I took my seat and asked her "For what purpose Naruko?" and her reply shocked me "It has to do with the Tailed-Beast that is sealed within me", she didn't sound worried, but any news concerning one of the Tailed-Beasts was news that had to be heard, and if she wanted me to call both Councils, my advisors and the Sannin she obviously wanted everyone to be aware of this information, "Very well Naruko, I'll send for them immediately. In the meantime why don't you go and wait with Jiraiya in the meeting room I'll be there shortly." she bowed and said "Ok Dad, we'll see you there" before leaving with Jiraiya, after they left I called in Shizune "You summoned me Lord Hokage?" I told her immediately what I required and she went off to summon everyone Naruko had requested be in the meeting, and with that I headed off to the meeting room.

Naruko's P.O.V:

Not long after Dad arrived, the Sannin, his advisors and the Shinobi Council turned up, a few minutes after that the Civilian Council arrived, now I was nervous, as everyone was taking their seats I walked so I was standing in the middle of the room this was it. Once everyone was seated my Dad spoke up, "I'm sure you're all wondering why you have been summoned here, the reason why is this, my Daughter Naruko Namikaze has some information for all of us regarding the Nine-Tailed Fox. I ask all of you to please hear what she has to say before asking any questions, Naruko the floor is yours please share with us the information you have for which you asked me to call this meeting." and he sat down "Thank you Lord Hokage" I turned to look at everyone in the room

Meeting Member's P.O.V:

"As all of you here know, on the day I was born, The Third Hokage, sacrificed himself to seal the Nine-Tailed Fox within me, by pushing my Father out of the way so I wouldn't grow up an orphan, as he originally should have been the one to die during the sealing" they all nodded at this "During my training with Jiraiya of the Sannin, we were attacked by a criminal organization of S-Class Missing Nin that call themselves The Akatsuki, their goal, was to capture me." Lord Orochimaru spoke out at this "For what purpose?" "That we don't know but somehow they knew that I was the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, please don't interrupt until I have finished" and everyone went silent "They engaged us in battle when Lord Jiraiya refused to hand me over to them, during the battle I was pushed to my limits, so much that the hold I had on the Chakra of the Nine-Tails weakened, and some of it's Chakra leaked from my seal. Once that happened they fled and Jiraiya was able to seal the Chakra of the Fox that had leaked from my seal back into me, Jiraiya has since then used his spy network to uncover as much information about the Akatsuki as possible. We know the names of three of their current members and the three we confirmed are Kisame Hoshigaki, Sasori of the Red Sand and although I, don't want to say this name after what I learned from Sasuke upon my return I have to, Itachi Uchiha" the last name sent whispers throughout the room "I would like to request that only my Father share the information about Itachi with Sasuke, since it was him that uncovered the truth about the Uchiha Massacre" the people gathered all nodded their heads in agreement at this

Naruko's P.O.V:

"Anyway back to the story, after we learned those three names one of his spies also revealed that they had found a couple of Jinchuriki that were able to control the power of the Tailed-Beasts sealed within them" Dad asked at this point "Who were they?" and I was reluctant to answer but did so anyway "Yugito Nii a Hidden Cloud Shinobi and Bee, the brother of Ay the current Raikage of The Hidden Cloud Village" Dad spoke up then and it was clear he was restraining his anger "Are you telling me that Lord Jiraiya took you into the Land of Lightning and The Hidden Cloud Village?" Pervy-Sage answered at this point "Yes I did after I sent a letter to the Raikage asking him for his brothers help and also for the help of the Shinobi Yugito, and explaining the situation with The Akatsuki, as with their attempt to get Naruko, it's obvious that they're hunting the Jinchuriki of the Tailed-Beasts" Dad went silent at this point and gestured for me to continue "Well what Pervy-Sage failed to mention was that we didn't tell the Raikage my real name, the name we used for me whilst we were in the Land of Lightning and in The Hidden Cloud Village was Naruko Uzumaki. After we explained the reason for us seeking both his brothers and Yugito's help, he agreed to let them help us in exchange for a peace treaty with The Leaf Village and Jiraiya has those documents for you Dad, we stayed in The Cloud Village for 3 weeks before I was finally able to control the power of the Nine-Tails, the result is this…" and with that I showed them what happened when I used the power of the Fox, the result was the entire room gasping in surprise. Lady Tsunade spoke up at this point "Naruko, are you really telling us what I think you are? You're really able to control the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox?" I just nodded and said "Yes, this golden Chakra that surrounds me is both of our Chakra's merged together, Yugito and Bee said that it means that our Chakra's are working together instead of the Foxes Chakra trying to take over, we decided to call it the Nine-Tails Cloak Mode and with this I can move faster than my Dad when he uses his Flying Raishin technique, well according to Lord Jiraiya anyway" Dad stood up in shock at this statement and Lord Orochimaru joked to him "Well Minato, it looks like your Daughter has surpassed you already, be careful she has her eyes and heart set on gaining the title of Hokage" to which my Dad just glared at him and everyone else in the room laughed. After that questions were asked and answers given, and the meeting was adjourned, but Dad asked for the presence of the three Sannin and Sasuke and Sakura in his office. Once Sasuke and Sakura arrived dad gave me permission to tell them what I had revealed in the meeting, so I did and both looked shocked at first but then they said they were both proud that I could now control the Fox, after that Dad told Sasuke what we had found out about Itachi, he was pretty shocked to hear that his brother was a member of the criminal organization that had tried to capture me, he turned to me and asked "Naruko, is this true?" I could only nod at his question, with that everyone was dismissed for the evening but before they left I arranged with Sasuke and Sakura to meet up with them and all our friends for breakfast tomorrow. Later that evening, as Dad and I made our way to the Namikaze Estate, I told him all about my journey with Pervy-Sage. Once we arrived home, Dad told me to go get unpacked and washed up before dinner while he made it for us both. I went up to my bedroom, and opened the door then switched on the light "Finally, home sweet home! This place hasn't changed a bit" I walked into my room and noticed my footprints showed clear floor under the dust "Whoa, well it's bound to be a little dusty being closed up for almost 3 years, and I doubt Dad would ever set foot in here without me being home" but it was becoming hard to breathe in here so I rushed to open the window and doors that led onto my balcony. I went and sat on my bed whilst picking up the picture of my Mom, "You see, I'm finally home Mom I'll come see you soon" and I began unpacking my bag. Just as I was finishing putting my clothes in the laundry, Dad called me down for dinner, he was just setting it on the table as I came down the stairs, we sat down and gave our thanks for the food, and began eating and even though I knew from Sasuke, Dad explained the whole situation with the Elder Council, after we'd finished I washed the dishes and Dad dried them, and I headed off to bed as I was pretty tired and it had been a long day. I decided that I would go visit Mom's grave, and the grave of the past Hokage's to pay my respects now that I was home, I couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring now that I was back where I belonged, home with my Dad, in The Hidden Leaf Village.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reunion, Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken and the Test is about to begin

Naruko's P.O.V:

I woke up early, so I wouldn't be late meeting everyone for breakfast, I wonder if I'd recognise everyone, after I had a shower and got dressed I went downstairs only to see Dad making his breakfast "Good morning Dad" he turned and said with a smile on his face "Good Morning Naruko, you're up awfully early" I went into the kitchen to make some tea for us both "Yeah, yesterday before they left the office I arranged with Sasuke and Sakura to get all our friends to meet up for breakfast, so I'll be leaving in about 15 minutes to meet them" he smiled at me "That's great sweetheart, where are you meeting them?" "Well Sasuke said he'd meet me and Sakura at Ichiraku's then we're meeting everyone at the Akimichi's Restaurant" once the tea was ready I poured two cups and took them to the table just as I set them down, Dad came over with his breakfast "Well sounds like you have a busy morning ahead of you, but after you've had breakfast with your friends I need you, Sasuke and Sakura to come to my office, more specifically I need you there at 9:30am, you're all going to be tested today so that I can see how strong you've all become, alright" I was shocked by this a little so I said "Ok, but before the test begins I want to show you my completed Rasengan, would that be ok" "You can show me during your test Naruko" that was when I realised Pervy-Sage hadn't told him "Actually I can't, Pervy-Sage has classed it as a SSS-Rank Jutsu, because it can only be safely used in Sage Mode or when I'm in the Nine-Tails Cloak Mode, the first time I used it before I learnt Sage Jutsu and how to control the Nine-Tails Chakra, I almost completely severed the Chakra Network in my right arm." this had him staring at me with his mouth gaping like a fish finally he said "It's that powerful and dangerous?" I just nodded, Dad cleared his throat and then said "Alright you can show me before the test, looks like I need to have little chat with Jiraiya-Sensei now anyway" that had me chuckling, I looked at the time and saw it was time for me to leave "Ok Dad I've got to go, I'll pass on your message to Sasuke and Sakura, see you later" I got up and put my cup in the sink, gave Dad a kiss on the cheek and headed to the door to put my shoes on "See you later Naruko, enjoy your breakfast and catching up with your friends" "I will bye" and with that I left.

Minato's P.O.V:

I would never have imagined that the Rasengan, would be that powerful and dangerous to use once a Shinobi's Elemental Chakra Nature was added to it, Jiraiya-Sensei has a lot of explaining to do this morning, '_Especially as he never sent me any kind of note or letter telling me about Naruko almost severing the Chakra Network in one of her arms!_'.

Naruko's P.O.V:

A few minutes later I arrived at Ichiraku's to see Sakura already there "Morning Sakura, hope I didn't keep you waiting long?" she turned to me and said "Morning Naruko and no you didn't I just got here myself" we were only waiting a couple of minutes before Sasuke turned up and we both said "Morning Sasuke" "Morning Naruko, Morning Sakura shall we get going" we both nodded and then we started heading for the Akimichi's Restaurant then I remembered my dad's message "Oh I almost forgot, my Dad wants the three of us to go to his office after we've had breakfast, he said he wants us there at 9:30am, he wants to give us a test to see how strong we've become. He didn't say what the test involved though, I imagine he'll tell us when we get there" Sasuke and Sakura looked curious at this, but both nodded and we kept going. Along the way we talked about our experiences training with the Sannin, until a few minutes later the Akimichi's Restaurant came into view "Man I'm nervous now" they just chuckled and Sakura told me everything would be fine, Sasuke spoke up at this point "We didn't actually tell them why we wanted to meet for breakfast so if you hide behind me and Sakura we'll tell them we have a surprise for them, and move aside to reveal you ok?" I nodded, that sounded like a great idea but then I thought of something, "Hold on, if Kiba's there, Akamaru will be as well, he might smell me before you do the big reveal" Sakura replied to this "No he won't, Akamaru, when food is involved is exactly like you used to be with Ramen, he'll be so focused on eating he won't notice your scent, or that you're there until you speak" I nodded my head that made perfect sense, Sasuke then asked me "You ready to do this?" I nodded and said "Let's do it, but I bet Mr. Akimichi will stop dead in his tracks when he sees me".

Inside the Akimichi's Restaurant:

As soon as we walked in I could hear Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Lee, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru and from the smell of things they were already eating, Sakura turned to me "You ready Naruko?" I just nodded my head and Sasuke said "Here we go" and they walked forward with me behind them, Sakura called out "Good Morning guys sorry if we're late" to which Ino replied "You're not that late Sakura, just by a few minutes" then Shikamaru said "What a drag, you arranged for all of us to meet up for breakfast and wouldn't even tell us why" and then Lee said "Yes that was very un-youthful of you both" Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, smiled and winked at me with the eyes I could see because of their heads being turned "Well we can reveal the reason why now" Neji just sounded bored when he said "Oh yes, and what is this special reason for having us all meet for breakfast?" to which both Sasuke and Sakura both said while stepping aside to reveal me "Naruko that's who". Once I was revealed there was complete silence, well except for Akamaru still eating, "Hi guys, I'm home" at this point I noticed that after I had spoken, Akamaru's ears had perked up, he looked up, turned to me and barked before bounding over to me and knocking me flat on my back before licking my face, causing me to laugh out loud "Oh come on, knock it off Akamaru, quit licking me, that tickles!" (just had to use this from ohshcã) it was at this point that everyone snapped out of their shock, Kiba was the first to react as he came and pulled Akamaru off of me before helping me up and… sniffing me? "Yep there's no mistaking that scent, it's Naruko alright" he said with a big grin on his face "You had to smell me first? What's that all about?" I asked, he looked a little sheepish at that, then he said "Well looks like you finally grew and got taller, huh Naruko?" he was measuring our heights when he said that, I just responded with "That's nothing Kiba. Compared to Akamaru I hardly grew at all. It's hard to believe he got so big in just 2 and a half years." he looked a little shocked and said "Did he really? We're always together so I don't really notice it that much" I scoffed and said "Trust me, Kiba, he's bigger. It wasn't that long ago, that you could carry him around on top of your head" Akamaru barked at this, the next thing I knew everyone else yelled out "NARUKO!" and I was caught in a group hug, "Naruko, it's great to have you back" that was Ino but I was finding it hard to breathe so I had to yell "Guys it's great to see you all too but…I CAN'T BREATHE!" at that everyone let me go and we all sat down after I got some air back in my lungs. Choji was about to ask me a question when his Dad walked through to get our orders, and just like I predicted he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of me as he hadn't been able to attend the meeting yesterday along with Ino and Shikamaru's Dads as they had been on a mission at the time "Dad are you ok?" just like Choji always worrying about others before himself, but the question shook his Dad out of his shock, "Yes I'm fine, I was just a little shocked to see Naruko that's all. Good to see you Naruko, when did you get back to the village?" "Yesterday, my Dad can fill you, Mr. Yamanaka and Mr. Nara in on the details later" he nodded and asked what we would be having after he left with our orders, Ino spoke up "You know, I thought for sure with you being back Naruko, that you would have arranged for us to go for Ramen instead" I chuckled and said "No more Ramen everyday for me Ino, I haven't touched a bowl of Ramen since I left with Jiraiya" that made everyone go silent, until Lee spoke up "My, Naruko you certainly look like you have gotten stronger, tell us, what happened during your training with Lord Jiraiya" and I told them everything including the parts about The Akatsuki and now being able to control the power of The Nine-Tailed Fox, when I was talking about that Mr. Akimichi walked in with our food whilst saying "I'd heard about that from my wife as she was at the meeting yesterday, I'm proud of you Naruko, it takes a lot of strength to be able to control a Tailed-Beast" I was shocked the only people to ever tell me they were proud of me were, Dad, Iruka-Sensei, Kakashi-Sensei, Pervy-Sage, Yugito and Bee "Thanks Mr. Akimichi" he smiled and began to set our food down "So how have you and all your Sensei's been doing since I left? Oh and by the way Hinata did you manage to perfect your Protective 8 Trigrams: 64 Palms Technique?" she looked shocked that I remembered about that, but smiled and nodded "Yes actually I did, with some help from Kiba and Shino, I managed to perfect it 2 weeks ago" Choji's dad had left at this point and I said to her "That's great Hinata! Oh before I forget, here Shino, whilst on my trip with Jiraiya, I collected some bugs for you and the rest of the Aburame Clan to study, here's the scroll they're sealed into" and I handed it over "You actually recognised me?" he sounded shocked "Yeah why wouldn't I?" he just shook his head and sad to forget about it and took the scroll from me, and with that we gave our thanks for the food and started to eat, whilst catching up at the same time "I have to admit Naruko, I'm curious about this test that your Dad has planned for the three of us" Sasuke said after a while to which Sakura agreed with him "Well there's no point in asking me about it, he didn't tell me what the test was just that we'd be taking one" then about 10 minutes later I glanced at the clock, and almost choked on my food "Naruko, what's wrong" "Sorry guys but me, Sasuke and Sakura have to go we need to be in my Dads office in 5 minutes!" "WHAT!" they both yelled after I said this "No way the time went by that fast" I just nodded, we said goodbye to everyone and headed towards the Hokage's Office as fast as we could

Minato's P.O.V:

It was almost 9:30am, Squad 7 should be here soon. Jiraiya-Sensei, Tsunade and Orochimaru were already in my office, I'd told the other two Sannin about what Naruko was going to show me before the test with Kakashi began, of course I hadn't told Naruko that the test was with Kakashi, and both were shocked that the Jutsu she was going to perform was so powerful, and they had both turned to Jiraiya-Sensei for confirmation of what I had said, and he did confirm it for them. Orochimaru was about to speak, when the door to my office burst open, and three people fell onto the floor in a heap, upon closer inspection once the shock from the door bursting open had worn off, I saw it was Squad 7. Naruko was on the bottom of the heap, then Sakura and then Sasuke, "Guys get off! Your squashing me!" and with that the other two scrambled off of Naruko and helped her up, it was great to see that even after being separated for so long, they were still a team. "Sorry Naruko, are you alright?" "Yeah I'm fine, just a bit bruised" I decided to speak at this point "Well, so nice of you all to drop in on us, and with 1 minute to spare." all three of them turned and gave me a small glare at that, "Would you have preferred us crashing through the window Dad? If you want us to, we can leave and enter that way instead?!" "No Naruko, coming through the door was fine" the last thing I needed was her to break something. "Now down to the reason why I called you three here this morning, your training has made you much stronger, so to see exactly how strong you've become and determine your ranking and future as Shinobi, you're all going to be taking a test, more specifically you'll be fighting someone" this had their attention now "Ok Dad, so who are we fighting" I chuckled, '_She's almost exactly like me when I was her age_' "Calm down Naruko. Your opponent will be…" then there was a knock on the door "Come in" in walked Shikamaru Nara and Temari of The Sand Village, "Sorry to disturb you Lord Hokage, but I just thought you'd like to know that the Shinobi The Sand Village was sending to help oversee the arrangements of this years Chunnin Exams has arrived" Naruko must of thought that Temari was their opponent "Naruko before you say anything, Temari isn't your opponent, he's out there." and I pointed to the window on my right, she went up to it whilst her team-mates engaged Temari in conversation, opened the window looked out and a very familiar voice said "So Naruko, you went and got all grown-up" she gasped and a smile appeared on her face as she cried "Kakashi-Sensei!"

Naruko's P.O.V:

"It's great to see you Sensei. You haven't changed a bit" and I jumped out of the window, "Well you've certainly changed Naruko, you're taller now" he chuckled after he said this, then I remembered about his little gift "Oh that's right before I forget, I've got something for you Sensei, a little present wait 'til you see it, you're gonna love it" I told him with a little laugh in my voice as I rummaged around in my weapons pouch for it "Ah-Ha here it is" and I held it out to him "NO WAY! Is that, is that really" he said once he saw it "The first publication of the Make Out Series in three years, it's pretty boring to me but I know you like them so" I said handing it to him, and somehow I new Pervy-Sage was angry. Kakashi-Sensei opened the book with an excited laugh then Dad spoke up "Calm down, there's a reason I summoned you here Kakashi, remember" he closed the book and stood up "Huh, so does that mean you're my opponent?" "Well you're a quarter right" I stood up and entered dads office again but Kakashi-Sensei stayed outside, Sakura spoke up "It's good to see you Kakashi-Sensei" "You too Sakura, hello to you as well Sasuke" Sasuke nodded his head "Kakashi-Sensei" Dad spoke up at this point which made all three of us turn towards him "So, as I was saying before we were interrupted, your strength will be tested in a fight, and your opponent will be Kakashi" I'll admit I was a little confused so I said "Ok so who's fighting him first?" to which Dad shook his head with a smile on his face and Kakashi-Sensei chuckled and said whilst moving so he was crouched on the windowsill "Well as to who my opponent will be, it's Naruko, Sasuke and Sakura. All three of you".

Kakashi's P.O.V:

All three of them looked shocked after I had said this, "Three on one?" Sakura commented "Just like when we had our first test with him" that was Sasuke, but Naruko hadn't said anything, that was odd for her "Naruko, is everything alright?" that was just like Minato-Sensei, whenever his Daughter was silent for a while, he began to worry, and it was for reasons like this, that he is such a good Father, and role model. "Yeah everything's fine, I was just remembering the last time we all had a test with Kakashi-Sensei that's all" I smiled at this, but what she said next wiped the smile off my face "That reminds me, I owe you for jabbing me in the butt that day, now it's payback time!" to which Sasuke and Sakura agreed "Yeah you do, and if Naruko's really as strong as she looks, you're in trouble Sensei" '_I think I am already. Judging by the looks I'm getting from Lady Tsunade and Minato-Sensei_' and my thought was proved right as Minato-Sensei stood from his chair and walked around his desk so he was leaning against it and facing me '_Now I'm dead_' his facial expression was blank, then he said in a calm voice "Kakashi, please tell me that when my Daughter was first tested by you with the rest of Squad 7, that you didn't use that ridiculous technique Leaf Village Hidden Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years of Death, on her?" I was about to answer but Naruko spoke up "Hold on Dad, before you kill Kakashi-Sensei I have a question about the test" he looked at her and said "Go on then Naruko, what's your question?" and she asked it, and it shocked everyone "Am I right in assuming that this test is also to see if we can still work together as a team, after being apart for so long because of our training?" the room was silent, when did Naruko get so smart? '_She's still the Leafs most unpredictable knucklehead Ninja_' Minato-Sensei answered her question after I finished my thought "Yes Naruko, you're right this is also a test of teamwork, as well as your strength" I spoke up then "Now the test will take place at the training grounds, more specifically the one where your first training lesson as Shinobi took place, training ground 3, I'll meet you there this afternoon, I'm sure Naruko is still a little tired from her journey home" "Huh what are you talking about I feel fine, I'm ready to get started" "No, no I'm sure you're still tired, I have some errands to run anyway, later" and with that I left

Sasuke's P.O.V:

"Well, he sure left in a hurry" Sakura then said "Hmm I wonder why he left so quickly" Naruko gasped "That's it, the book I gave him, he must of left so quickly so he could read it" Sakura and I gasped and said together "Of course. That explains it, that gleam in his eye!" and then the Hokage spoke up "And to avoid answering my question as well apparently" and Naruko told him what he wanted to know "I can answer it for you Dad, he did" and he exploded "KAKASHI HATAKE, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU YOU'RE DEAD!" and he threw his chair out of the window, and then we heard a scream of pain. We all rushed to the window, looked out and there was the Hokage's chair, on top of Kotetsu, "Oops, sorry Kotetsu!" well I was right everything was back to normal now that Naruko was back home.

Naruko's P.O.V:

Well since Kakashi-Sensei didn't want us at the training grounds until this afternoon, I decided now would be the perfect time to visit Mom's grave and pay my respects to the past Hokage's as well, "I'll see you all at the training grounds later, I have a couple of things I need to do before the test" everyone looked curious at that but it was Dad who asked me "And what are those Naruko?" I sighed and answered him "I wanted to visit Mom, and pay my respects to the past Hokage's now that I'm home" and he went silent then nodded and told us we were dismissed but that he'd like to see me at home before I left for the test, so I left Dads office with everyone else and headed for the Yamanaka Flower shop.

Ino's P.O.V:

It had been a quiet day in the shop so far, I was just about to close for my break when the bell on the shop door rang, and in walked Naruko. "Hey Naruko, what can I do for you?" she looked at me and gave me a solemn smile "Hi Ino, I'd like to get two bouquets of flowers please" I knew then that she must be going to the Cemetery, people only come in here with solemn smiles when their visiting loved ones that have passed, "Sure thing. What kinds would you like?" she looked around then said "Can I get one with white and pink lilies and another with white carnations please" I nodded and got the flowers she asked for and started making the bouquets whilst engaging her in conversation "Your going to visit the graves of your Mother and the past Hokage's aren't you?" she just nodded, and as I started on her second bouquet of flowers she said "Yeah, I wanted to visit my Mom when I came home anyway, but paying my respects to the past Hokage's just seemed like the right thing to do, while I was there" I just smiled and nodded at her, once the flowers were ready I handed them to her, she paid for them after I told her the cost, thanked me and left, after she had I closed the shop for my break.

Naruko's P.O.V:

A few minutes after leaving the Yamanaka's Shop, I was walking towards the cemetery, and I found my thoughts wandering towards Gaara, '_I wonder how he's doing these days. I'll have to ask Temari if I see her again today_' as I walked through the village, many of the villagers smiled and welcomed me back. About 5 minutes later I was walking through the gates of the Cemetery, I went towards the monument that symbolised The Will of Fire, and was also the grave of the past Hokage's, as I laid the bouquet of white carnations on the grave I read the quote of The Third Hokage, that was engraved on the monument _"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fires shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew - Hiruzen Sarutobi, The Third Hokage"_ and then paid my respects to them, after that I headed towards my Mother's grave, laid her bouquet down and paid my respects, and told her all about my journey with Pervy-Sage. Once I had finished I headed home to get ready for the test with Kakashi-Sensei. On the way I bumped into Shikamaru and Temari, it was then that I found out Gaara was now Kazekage and that everyone in our year was a Chunnin except me, well apart from Neji who was a Jounin now.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I was on the hospital roof reading Master Jiraiya's new book Make Out Tactics when his voice came from in front of me "So what do you think, not bad huh?" I looked up at him "If you ask me it's the best one I've ever written" and he laughed a few moments later we were walking through the village "I'm delivering Naruko into yours hands as promised" I couldn't help but ask "I can see she's grown all right. But has she grown-up?" he looked at me a little offended "Huh, you implying I haven't done my job. Go ahead underestimate her you'll be sorry" I smiled at that "Well that sounds encouraging" then he turned extremely serious "The ones we've been watching are about to make their move" a few minutes later we were in the Dango Shop "I see so they're finally coming out of the woodwork" Jiraiya nodded and said "It's no surprise bound to happen sooner or later" I frowned "The Akatsuki. So why do you think they're finally showing their hand? What're they after" Master Jiraiya turned very serious then told me "Their ultimate objective is still unclear but I know one thing...they want the Fox Spirit that Naruko carries within herself. As to why, well you can be sure they have some evil purpose in mind. That's why I've been going around, spreading the word to all our allies, something's coming so they better boost their security and keep on their toes" and with that he finished his Dango, and we began heading towards the training grounds.

Minato's P.O.V:

After everyone had left the office I summoned Shizune, and asked her to take the S-Rank Mission's to Anbu headquarters, I then began to think about Naruko, and how much she'd changed, she wasn't the village prankster anymore, that's for sure. She had blossomed into a beautiful young woman '_Now I'm going to have to beat the men away from her with the Rasengan and Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu_' I looked at the time and decided to head home for the day, and spend some time with my Daughter before her teams test, but more than anything I couldn't wait to see her completed version of the Rasengan.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I was just finishing adding my weapons to my pouch for the test when the front door opened, and Dad called out "Naruko are you home?" I smiled and yelled down to him "I'll be down in a second Dad, I'm just finishing getting everything ready for the test!" he yelled back to me "Ok!" and I heard him moving around in the kitchen. Then I looked at the special item that I'd asked to be made for me whilst on my journey with Pervy-Sage, and I couldn't resist, so I put it on and went downstairs.

Minato's P.O.V:

I had just sat down at the table with a cup of tea when Naruko came down the stairs, and what she was wearing caused me to spit out my drink in surprise. She was wearing a cloak identical to mine, except hers didn't have any writing on the back, "Naruko where did you get that?" she just smiled at me and said "I had it made whilst I was on my journey with Pervy-Sage, I missed you so much while I was away I just wanted something that would make me feel like you were there with me" I got up after the last bit left her mouth and gave her a hug and kissed her on her forehead, then tilted her face up so she was looking at me and said "Naruko, you only have to look into your heart and I'll be there, always, no matter where you are. Even when I join the other Hokage's and your Mother in death, I will always be there in your heart and in your memories, because my Will of Fire, will be passed onto you" she just looked at me and nodded with an understanding smile on her face. "Dad if it's ok, can I show you my complete Rasengan now please" I smiled at her and said "Of course you can but first let me get, The Sannin, your team-mates and Kakashi as you told the last three that you would also show them if you managed to complete it before you left, didn't you" she nodded and said she'd meet us at the training grounds and with that she left, and I summoned everyone.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I couldn't decide whether to perform the Rasen Shuriken in Sage Mode or in the Nine-Tails Cloak Mode, I'll ask Pervy-Sage when he gets here to see what he thinks. Just as I thought that, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-Sensei arrived and I noticed Sasuke had his Sharingan active, it was then that I decided to use Sage Mode to perform the Rasen Shuriken, I think Sasuke might have been curious to see how Nature Energy works. A few minutes later Dad, Lord Orochimaru and Lady Tsunade turned up and Pervy-Sage was behind them, he came straight over to me and asked if I was going to use Sage Mode, when I nodded he told me to start gathering Nature Energy, I gave a slight nod and did just that.

Sasuke's P.O.V:

Naruko sat cross legged on the ground, and her hands were in a strange hand-sign that I've never seen before, I was starting to walk towards her so I could tap her on the shoulder and ask what she was doing, but I was stopped by Lord Jiraiya, "You mustn't touch her Sasuke, or any of you either. In order to gather an equal amount of Nature Energy, to her own Chakra and the Chakra of the Nine-Tails to enter Sage Mode, requires Naruko to stay completely still. If you disturb her or move her in any way she'll begin to turn into a toad" that shocked me, Naruko told us that she had mastered Sage Jutsu, and for Naruko to stay completely still was impossible when we were younger, I looked at her and noticed Chakra entering her body from the outside, "This is incredible" everyone looked at me "I can see Chakra that's not her own, entering her body" Lord Jiraiya then explained it was the Nature Energy being drawn in by the sign she was making with her hands, and that the energy being drawn in allowed her to enter Sage Mode and use Sage Jutsu. The Hokage spoke up at this point, "How will we know when she's in Sage Mode Jiraiya-Sensei?" he chuckled slightly and said "When Naruko achieves Sage Mode, her eyelids turn orange, and when she opens her eyes, they will look like a toads" it was then I noticed her eyelids were changing colour so I spoke up "I think she's entering it now," and everyone looked at me "look at her eyelids" and everyone did, and sure enough just like Lord Jiraiya had said her eyelids turned orange, and then she opened her eyes and sure enough, just like he said they looked like the eyes of a toad.

Minato's P.O.V:

My baby girl had mastered Sage Jutsu, the most difficult of all Jutsu to master, I'm so proud of her right now and I know Kushina would be too.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I opened my eyes after feeling the Nature Energy, reach an equal amount to my Chakra and the Chakra of the Nine-Tails, what I saw once I opened them was six shocked faces well, in Dads case shocked and proud and Kakashi-Sensei had revealed his Sharingan eye. I stood up and said to everyone "You may want to step back quite a bit, the backlash from the Jutsu is very powerful." they all nodded and stepped back, then Dad said "Try not to use too much Chakra Naruko, your test with Kakashi is taking place after this" I just nodded and said "Are you all ready, to see my completed Rasengan?" they all nodded and I noticed that Dad, Sasuke and Sakura had excited grins on their faces, I took a deep breath and turned so they could see me from the side, and also see how the Jutsu formed "Ok here we go. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and two Shadow Clones appeared beside me "You guys know what to do" they both nodded, and I held out my right hand, the Clone on my right formed the Rasengan, and the Clone on my left added the Elemental Chakra, and I held the two forms together as one. As it took shape I heard Dad say "What the? That sound, so much Chakra" then Sakura said "I knew she always had a huge amount of Chakra, but this is unbelievable" and then Sasuke said "Look at it's shape, it looks like a giant shuriken", Once it was ready I dispelled the Clones, took a running start and cried whilst throwing the Rasen Shuriken at the farthest tree "Now, Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken!" and with that I let it go, and it was bang on target.

Sasuke's P.O.V:

'_Incredible!'_

Kakashi's P.O.V:

'_The number of separate attacks was almost infinite. Even my Sharingan couldn't follow them all. What a magnificent Jutsu' _Incredible she managed to do what Minato-Sensei couldn't, she successfully altered the Rasengan's Chakra Form and Nature _'I never would've imagined, that clumsy little Naruko, would ever achieve a change in Chakra form, as well as a change in Chakra Nature, she really has surpassed her Father, in more ways than one'_

Sakura, Tsunade and Orochimaru's P.O.V:

'_Naruko has gotten strong enough to create a Jutsu that powerful!'_

Minato's P.O.V:

'_Unbelievable! The Jutsu I created can be made into something as powerful as that! And it can be thrown too. It's going to take ages to restore the training ground after this'_

Jiraiya's P.O.V:

'_Good job kid, you showed them some of what you can do now, and showed your Dad that adding Elemental Chakra to the Rasengan wasn't impossible like he thought'_

Naruko's P.O.V:

Everyone was silent, no one was saying anything, I turned around to look at everyone and they were all standing there with their mouths gaping, well everyone except Pervy-Sage, he just had a grin on his face. Dad spoke up then "Ok Naruko, you can leave Sage Mode now, you, Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura need to head over to training ground 3 for your test" I sighed and said to him "Dad, I can't just end Sage Mode like a Jutsu, in order to leave Sage Mode I have to use up all the Nature Energy I collected" then there was a sharp smack to the back of my head "OW! What the hell Pervy-Sage!" he just grinned and said "Lord Fukasaku, told me to hit you on the back of your head when we needed you out of Sage Mode, because that disrupts your balance with the Nature Energy" I growled and muttered to myself "I'm going to get that Geezer Toad, for telling you that, I like being in Sage Mode" to which Sasuke asked me why that was "Because Sasuke, when I'm in Sage Mode I feel calmer" he just nodded. Kakashi-Sensei spoke then and when we looked in his direction, he was standing by the crater left by my Jutsu, "Well then, shall we head over to training ground 3 for your test?" we all nodded and he started walking…and then he disappeared…then we heard him yell "Can someone please get me out of the crater left by Naruko's Jutsu?!" we all ran up to the crater, looked down and sure enough there he was at the bottom of it, "Kakashi-Sensei, you're a Jonin and an ex-Anbu, get out yourself" me, Sakura and Sasuke said at the same time, before heading to our old training ground, with everyone else following, except him. Then I remembered that I had a question for Lady Tsunade so I slowed down so I could end up next to her and luckily she was at the back of the group "Excuse me Lady Tsunade, can I ask you something?" she looked at me and said whilst nodding "Of course you can Naruko, what is it?" "I was just wondering did you teach Sakura your strength technique?" she smiled and said "No I didn't, she tried to learn it but she couldn't hold the Chakra long enough to perform it, she's more suited for Medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu anyway" I just nodded and looked behind us to see Kakashi-Sensei jumping out of the crater and running to catch up to us.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

A few minutes later we all arrived at training ground 3, "Well, doesn't this bring back memories?" my three students just nodded with reminiscent smiles on their faces, Sakura then said "Squad 7" followed by Naruko "Our very first training lesson as Shinobi" and I couldn't help but add "That's right, you didn't get on as well as you do now back then" to which Sasuke said "No we didn't" then Naruko sighed and I looked up from my book, only to see all three of them on the ground moping and saying "We failed at first" '_Oops! I guess mentioning their lack of teamwork during the first training lesson they had with me is, taboo to these guys_'. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bells, as they rang Naruko, Sasuke and Sakura looked up.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I heard the jingling of some very familiar bells, so I looked up and sure enough Kakashi-Sensei was holding the bells from the first training lesson we had with him, I looked at my team-mates and they were looking at him as well. "Alright show me how far you've come, after all, you haven't given up on your dreams have you?" and we all stood up Sasuke said "No way", Sakura said "Not a chance" and I said "What the heck do you think I put myself through all that training for?" Kakashi-Sensei chuckled, attached the bells to his belt and said "The rules are the same as they were that first day. I don't care how you do it, just get these bells away from me. And remember…" and the three of us said together "If we're not prepared to kill you, we won't get the bells. We know".

_Flashback:_

'_You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells.'_

_Flashback end._

He chuckled and said "Exactly. Show no mercy if you ever hope to get these bells, you've got until sunrise tomorrow" Then Kakashi-Sensei closed his book, "Ok shall we get started" I reached up to tighten my Headband "Heh, are you going to be reading that stupid book the whole time, Kakashi-Sensei?" and Sakura said "No he won't. I bet he already finished reading it" and Sasuke added "He probably started reading it, when he left the Hokage's office after you gave it to him, Naruko". He put the book into His weapons pouch whilst saying to us "Not quite, but I'm going to save that little pleasure for later. Besides I've got a feeling I'd better keep on my toes," and he reached up to move his Headband away from his Sharingan eye "it's a whole new ball game," he revealed the Sharingan "this time it's serious" the wind blew around us causing the bells to jingle.

Unknown P.O.V:

Two men in black cloaks emblazoned with red clouds made their way across the desert towards The Village Hidden in the Sand, the first man spoke "The Sand Village is just up ahead. Remember, we need to capture the Jinchuriki alive Deidara" the other just laughed and said "Relax Sasori, my man. I know we need him alive, hm." then the Sand Village appeared on the horizon.

Naruko's P.O.V:

The wind was blowing but no one was moving, we were all just staring at Kakashi-Sensei and he back at us, finally my impatience got the best of me and I ran forward yelling "What are we waiting for!"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Kakashi-Sensei's test

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were all just standing there, just looking at each other, Dad, Shizune and the Sannin were standing off to the side watching the test, Kakashi-Sensei moved causing the bells to ring and finally I couldn't take it anymore and I yelled "Lets go!" and I threw some shuriken towards him, he dodged them by ducking low to the ground then he threw some back at me, and I dodged by jumping into the air and he threw some more, and I made my signature Jutsu hand-sign "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the Clone appeared next to me, grabbed me and pulled me out of the path of the shuriken.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

As I watched her dodge my shuriken, I couldn't help but say "Impressive" and I ran for her as soon as she was about to hit the ground.

Sakura and Sasuke's P.O.V:

'_Nice, she was trapped, so she used her Shadow Clone to get out of the way, so that she could dodge Kakashi-Sensei's shuriken in mid-air'_.

Naruko's P.O.V:

Once the Clone and I landed on the ground I yelled "Transform!" and it turned into a giant shuriken, as I was getting ready to throw it a pair of hands grabbed the arm I had the shuriken in and the back of my head, stopping me dead in my attack, and I realised Kakashi-Sensei had a hold of me exactly the same way he did in our first training lesson, only without the kunai to my neck this time. I heard Sasuke and Sakura gasp in shock.

Minato's P.O.V:

As I watched Naruko dodge using her Shadow Clone, and Kakashi grab a hold of her to stop her, I noticed another one of her Shadow Clones behind Kakashi holding a kunai to his back, it was then that I overheard Lady Tsunade and Shizune "Nicely done" "Incredible" then Lord Orochimaru added his own comment "She's definitely gotten smarter huh, to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu in such a way, was something she never would've thought of before" I spoke up at this "Lord Orochimaru, please remember that, that's my Daughter you're talking about" "I'm only being honest, and you know it's true Lord Hokage" I hung my head because I knew he was right, then Jiraiya-Sensei spoke up "And there's still more to come, Naruko has a lot more surprises in store for you all" and with that I focused on the test once more.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

Once I had a hold on Naruko to stop her I said "That'll be enough of that" and I couldn't help but think _'She's growing up right before my eyes'_ and I had a flashback to the last time this happened, then I noticed something behind me _'Not only that, her timing with the Shadow Clone has improved as well'_ there was another Shadow Clone behind me holding a kunai to my back. "You've matured haven't you Naruko. However, you still have a ways to go, it's obvious you're as impatient as ever. You attacked before I even had a chance to say start"

_Flashback:_

"_Don't be in such a hurry, I didn't say start yet"_

_Flashback end._

"Now lets do this properly." out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke and Sakura, tensing up "Ready…Start!" and with that I left the field.

Naruko's P.O.V:

All I heard after he said start was a poof of smoke and he was gone "Oh come on I can't believe he tricked me again!" and Sakura yelled "Oh you big dummy!" and Sasuke added "Can't expect anything less from Naruko really, she's always jumping in headfirst" "Hey! I wanted to get started instead of standing around, so sue me. Lets just find him and get the bells already!" and we began looking around for Kakashi-Sensei. He was nowhere to be seen, then I thought of something, and I began looking around me.

Jiraiya's P.O.V:

The sun was now beginning to set. A smile appeared on my face, as I watched my student look around for Kakashi, _'Now what are you going to do, Naruko?'_

Naruko's P.O.V:

I looked in every direction, and thought them to myself as I did _'Right, above, left, behind' _I turned so my back was facing Sasuke and Sakura _'Only one place left he can be'_ And with that thought I curled my fist, brought it back and yelled "BELOW!" and punched the ground, causing it to crack and break-up, I heard Sakura and Sasuke shouting in shock and falling to the ground behind me but I was more focused on who my punch had revealed and a smirk appeared on my face, there amongst the now split-up ground, was Kakashi-Sensei looking terrified.

Minato's P.O.V:

'_WHAT THE HECK, JIRAIYA-SENSEI TAUGHT HER LADY TSUNADE'S MONSTROUS STRENGTH!' _after that thought was finished I heard Sensei say "Yes nicely done, Naruko" I looked at the others and they were white with shock, "Sensei did you have to teach her that? Now I'm going to have to hide every breakable item in the village" he just nodded with a chuckle and Tsunade said "So that's why she asked if I'd taught it to Sakura earlier" then I heard Orochimaru speak "The same monster strength, I hope Jiraiya wasn't trying to turn her into a mirror image of you, on their training trip Tsunade".

Kakashi's P.O.V:

It was official, for the first time since I became her Sensei, I was, as of right now scared of Naruko. I mean come on seriously, who wouldn't be scared of someone who possesses the same strength as one of the Sannin. Now I know how Asuma feels when Choji gets going _'Wh-what ridiculous strength! So it looks like Master Jiraiya has been teaching her more than just Ninjutsu and Sage Jutsu' _after I finished this thought Naruko spoke up in a taunting way "Kakashi-Sensei," "Huh?" "found you, didn't I?".

Sasuke's P.O.V:

As I helped Sakura up I couldn't help but think _'I've really got to stop winding Naruko up, if I don't she might actually kill me'_

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I hopped out of the ground after she said this. _'She infuses her Chakra and the Chakra of the Nine-Tails together, focuses it into a fist, and releases it all at once. Something like that requires incredibly precise Chakra control. Ninjutsu combined with monster strength, no it's gotta be more than that, after all she's always been more of a Ninjutsu type, than a Taijutsu type or a Genjutsu type anyway, she may actually become a better Kunoichi than Lady Tsunade and her Mother. You had your shot now it's my turn'_ and with that I ran into the forest.

Naruko's P.O.V:

He headed into the forest and we followed

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I ran through the forest and found a place to hide, I looked around for Naruko and the others and Sasuke was the first one I found _'There he is, the first thing a Shinobi must learn, is to conceal their presence and remain hidden' _I looked behind me, and spotted the other two _'This is completely different from that time before'_

_Flashback:_

"_Ninja must know how to conceal their movements, and hide effectively" none of them were in sight "Well, they understand that much, they've hidden well, huh" Naruko was standing right in front of me "You and me right now fair and square, let's go!" "You know, compared to the others you're a little bit weird"_

_Flashback End._

Three kunai were now heading my way "Whoops!" I jumped to dodge them, Sasuke came towards me with one and we clashed in mid-air, I threw some kunai at him and he dodged and joined his team-mates on the ground "Time for today's lesson, this is Shinobi battle skills rule number 1 Taijutsu" and I went for Sakura she dodged every one of my attacks, then Naruko came at me "Ha, got ya" I dodged her attacks as best as I could, "I just need one shot" "It won't do any good if you can't hit me" as I dodged her last punch I found my back against a tree, as I dodged her next punch, she hit the tree knocking it down "Phew that was a close one" and of course Naruko then did her signature Jutsu "Shadow Clone Jutsu" "Huh" and her Clones came at me "Fine, Bring it" I took them all out, one of them went after the bells "Those bells are mine!" I grabbed the Clones arm and threw it into a tree then I jumped into the air with three more on my tail "Get back here!" I ended up behind them and one of the Clones noticed "Huh, Dancing Leaf Shadow" and I performed it taking them back to the ground "That's the attack Lee uses" Sakura spoke up from the ground "It's Kakashi-Sensei's copy Ninjutsu" the attack hit full force destroying the last of the Clones. After the dust settled I looked around "Now, where do I find the real one?" and from behind me came Naruko's voice "Right over here!" "Huh?" I looked behind me and there she was running towards me then she did something completely unexpected "Leaf Village Hidden Finger Jutsu:" there it was, the hand-sign for it, I was scared now "Huh, OH NO!" "A Thousand Years of Death" I screamed, and jumped out of the way as fast as I could and she missed "Darn it, I thought I had him for sure that time" I landed in front of a tree "I thought that was the end for me, in more ways than one" and then Sasuke was flying towards me with a kick which I dodged. I was panting for breath now, looking at all three of them, I sighed and thought _'Phew, I remember when this used to be a lot easier'_

_Flashback:_

"_I'm going to crush you!" Naruko came running towards me and attacked me using Taijutsu, I dodged all of her attacks "Now you're mine!. Huh?" I was behind her "Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time" she looked at me "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years Of Death" and she went flying_

'_She's over there huh' I chuckled and reached into my pouch 'Sasuke where'd you go? Don't tell me Kakashi-Sensei found you? No he can't capture my Sasuke I won't let him' she gasped when she saw my Clone 'Phew he didn't hear me, I'm safe' from behind her I whispered "Sakura behind you" "Huh?" she turned around, screamed and passed out_

_Flashback end._

'_Even though they've been apart for 2 years they're teamwork is still pretty good' _my thoughts wondered to the book in my pouch '_Although I was hoping to find out how this next volume ends' _Then Naruko yelled "Alright, Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu" and a huge amount of clones appeared _'The sheer number of her Clones always amazes me'_ and one of the Clones yelled to the others "Let's get him" "Yeah!" and they all came at me and I destroyed every one that did, and the real Naruko punched the ground again causing me to dodge but she did destroy some of her Clones as well "What a pain, looks like I won't have time for reading"

Minato's P.O.V:

We were all watching the fight with anticipation then Lord Orochimaru Spoke "Well, this is starting to get interesting" Shizune then said "They're doing pretty good. Better than I thought" Lady Tsunade nodded in agreement with her and Sensei said "Just wait, You haven't seen anything yet"

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I was staring at my ex-students in exhaustion, "Now then, what should I do next?" I left the battle to get a little rest and plan my next strategy.

Naruko's P.O.V:

The sun had set and we were walking in the forest, looking for Kakashi-Sensei "Last time I heard the bells, they were coming from this direction, I'm sure of it" Sasuke added his opinion here "Just be careful Naruko, Sakura. He may of let us hear the bells on purpose to lure us into a trap" then Sakura said "That's right, we can't forget who we're dealing with here" and I nodded along with Sasuke, then there was the rustling of wind through the trees, and a figure appeared it was…my Mom "Mom?" Sasuke spoke up "She looks hurt" she looked up at us "Naruko, sweetheart help me, please help me" I growled and said "It's just too bad she's not real. I'd give almost anything for my Mom to be alive but…" then Sakura released the Genjutsu "Release" and the illusion of my Mom disappeared, and Sasuke said "We don't want to play with your illusions" I was a little mad now because Kakashi-Sensei had used an illusion of my Mom to try and trick us "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" as soon as the Clone appeared we formed the Rasengan, and Sakura told me "Naruko, Kakashi-Sensei's behind that tree there" and we all heard him say "Darn it!" and I was ready "Yeah, don't worry I got this handled" and with that I dispelled my Clone and ran towards the tree he was behind "Rasengan!" and blasted through the tree causing him to move away from us and then Sakura spoke up "Well Kakashi-Sensei," and he said "Yeah" then Sakura continued "is there something you wanted to say. I'm not exactly sure I heard you clearly before." and he responded in a slightly high pitched voice well it was to me at least with "Shinobi battle techniques part 2 Genjutsu"

_Flashback:_

'_I performed a Genjutsu on Sakura "Oh my, someone there?. I think I felt something what was it. What's going on?" she was looking around as she said this "Sakura" she spun around "Sasuke" and she froze there was an illusion of Sasuke badly injured, but she didn't know that "Sakura, help me please help me" and then she screamed and passed out.'_

_Flashback end._

I then heard him say "It was so much easier to fool her back then" and Sakura responded with "You'll have to come up with something better than that. If you think we're going to fall for that old trick again you're crazy" Sasuke nodded and I said "We wouldn't be that stupid" Kakashi-Sensei just said "Really? I wouldn't be so sure about that" and he looked to the ground in front of us, I followed his line of sight and lying there were the bells. "Hey check it out the bells slipped off his belt" and I went towards them and Sasuke and Sakura yelled "No Naruko don't!" but I didn't listen "They're mine" as I reached for them a rope snared around my ankle lifting me off of the ground just like last time.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

Naruko was snared in the same trap as last time "You see, you still fall for the same old tricks" and then she dispelled "Huh?" and from behind me came her voice "There's no way I'd fall for a dumb old trap like that" and she punched me in the face but I just substituted myself and Sasuke said "Substitution Jutsu" and he and Sakura ran over to Naruko, as she cried "Darn it!" and Sakura said "Why don't you ever listen to us you idiot?!" I couldn't help but smile and think as I watched them from the tree above them _'So the same old tricks won't work on you huh'_.

Sasuke's P.O.V:

We ended up at the edge of the forest, near the river that runs through the training grounds, right back where we started in the first place and Kakashi-Sensei was nowhere in sight, next thing I knew kunai were thrown at me and I easily dodged them, despite being tired out a little "So he's over there" and I threw my kunai back in the direction the ones thrown at me had come from, but Kakashi-Sensei dodged only to meet Sakura…who didn't do anything, Kakashi-Sensei grabbed her and said "What the?" he knocked her away and it turned out to be a Clone.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

'_Naruko's Shadow Clone and Transformation'_ then a shadow fell over me, "Huh?" I looked up and there was the real Naruko coming towards me with a Chakra infused fist _'If that even touches me I'm done for'_ I dodged it just in time before she struck the ground instead of me, as I fled from them I ended up right by the river and they followed. We stood there for a few seconds just staring at each other before I said "Alright then, Shinobi battle skill rule number 3 Ninjutsu" I backed off from them a little and performed my hand-signs as fast as I could, which caused them to stare at me in shock and disbelief

Sakura's P.O.V:

'_The speed of his hand-signs!'_

Naruko and Sasuke's P.O.V:

'_Nobody's that fast!'_

Naruko's P.O.V:

He moved backwards and then it came "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" it was huge and we barely dodged it, after the Jutsu faded Kakashi-Sensei was nowhere in sight "Ok, now where is he?" next thing I knew there was a hand on my ankle "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu" and then I was pulled into the ground so only my head was above it.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I got her with the Headhunter Jutsu, once I turned to her after the Jutsu had been successful she poofed out of existence _'Another Shadow Clone'_ I looked behind me and there they were running towards me, once more I performed my hand-signs faster than they could see, and moved so I was standing on the water "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu" the Jutsu formed stopping them in their tracks and the Jutsu hit, knocking them back into the forest, once the water from the Jutsu receded I was left panting for breath.

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were jumping through the trees back towards where Kakashi-Sensei was and I couldn't help but say to my team-mates "Fire Style, Earth Style and Water Style. One right after the other. Nobody's got that many tricks up their sleeve!" Sakura replied to what I had said "Well they don't call him the Copy Ninja for nothing. He's giving us an expert lesson in just how good he really is" and Sasuke added "Yeah, so he really did hold back a lot with us when we were Genin" I turned to him and said "Sasuke, out of the three of us, and the rest of the Shinobi in our year, I'm the only one that still _is_ a Genin"

Jiraiya's P.O.V:

I thought to myself _'Looks like this could take a while'_ and Orochimaru spoke up "Well they still have plenty of time before sunrise" Shizune answered him with "True" and Tsunade nodded and then Minato said "In fact, just watch. I've a feeling it'll be over sooner than we think" and he gave a little chuckle

Sakura's P.O.V:

We were all panting for breath, we had all hidden behind a tree that wasn't too far from Kakashi-Sensei's location, I spoke at this point "I shouldn't be surprised, but that Sharingan of his is something else isn't it" Sasuke responded by nodding his head and saying "Yeah" and I continued with what I had been saying "And his hand-signs are faster than the human eye can follow. There's no way we'll ever be able to get past them" and somehow I knew everyone was having a flashback, of how fast his hands were "We don't have a chance of getting near those bells, unless we can slow down his hands somehow" then Naruko spoke up "Like you said it's no surprise. I mean you'd expect Kakashi-Sensei to be a strong opponent. He's smarter than Shikamaru, his sense of smell is sharper than Kiba's, his Sharingan's stronger than Sasuke's, his Taijutsu's better than Lee's, and on top of that he's had more experience, than all of us combined" Sasuke spoke up after she had finished, and even I can admit, Naruko had a good point "Ok but even Kakashi-Sensei has to have some weakness." he looked at me and said "He has to right?" I just shrugged because I didn't know how to answer, Naruko's voice distracted us "Hm, a weakness, huh?" it was silent for a few minutes before Naruko suddenly said "Hey, wait a sec, I got it" which caused both me and Sasuke to gasp in surprise.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I was hiding behind a tree, looking out for the three of them but there was no sign of them, I couldn't help but think "I never thought they'd give my Sharingan such a workout. But I should be able to hold them off until sunrise. Still got plenty of shuriken, and kunai and Make Out Tactics, no I'd better not. It's not like the old days when I could fight them off and read a book at the same time. But I'm dying to know what happens, it's obvious the main character has some sort of dark secret that's about to be revealed, man this is killing me. I don't know if I can wait".

Naruko's P.O.V:

I was covering my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud after I realised what his weakness would be, Sakura then said "Well if you really think he has a weakness let's hear it" that had me laughing again and I just managed to say "Oh come on Sakura you know Kakashi-Sensei as well as I do, you should be able to figure it out" it was Sasuke who answered me "Well lets just say she can't ok. Now come on quit stalling, what is it?" Sakura nodded in agreement with him, and I chuckled again before answering "Ok, ok you guys _really_ want to know?" and both of them nodded and said "Yes spill it" so I told them. After I did Sakura gasped and said "Of course I get it, it's so simple it's simply brilliant" I nodded "Yeah, like I said all you got to do is think about it and it's obvious" then Sasuke added whilst nodding his head "Naruko, if your right, then that'll be the one moment when we won't have to worry about his hand-signs or his Sharingan" I looked at him and exclaimed "And that's when we take him down!" Sakura then said with a very faint hint of laughter in her voice "Naruko, you really are the number one most unpredictable knucklehead Ninja" I just chuckled and held up a fist.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

They hadn't arrived yet, maybe they were waiting for me to make the first move "I was so impressed by how much those 3 have improved, I let myself get carried away. From now on I'm going to wait and let them make the first move".

Naruko's P.O.V:

I stood up and said to the others "No sense standing around here times a-wasting. It's up to us to make the first move" Sasuke and Sakura both stood with determined smiles on their faces and Sakura said "Well, ok let's do it" and with that we were off.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

A scent caught my nose, so I sniffed it, it was my ex-students "They're here" I got up, and there they were…heading straight for me "A frontal attack huh? Getting a little overconfident aren't you?" but that didn't deter them suddenly Sasuke and Sakura yelled out "Now Naruko!" instead of attacking me with weapons or a Jutsu she talked to me "Listen to this Kakashi-Sensei" I was a little confused now "Huh?" and then my worst fear came out of her mouth, the beginning of a spoiler "I know the final plot twist of Make Out Tactics!" my eyes went wide and I froze in shock "Wh-what?! No, no!" but she kept going "Turns out the hero actually is none other than…" "No! Shut up, I don't wanna hear!" and I covered my ears with a little scream, but there was still a problem, I still knew what she was saying even with my ears covered "Oh no, because of the Sharingan I can still read her lips!" so I closed my eyes tight, and turned my face away from her. Faintly a few seconds later I heard the bells jingling, so I opened my eyes only to see Naruko, Sasuke and Sakura standing in front of me with smiles on their faces "Wha?" I took my hands off of my ears and Naruko chuckled and held up her hand revealing a bell, and Sasuke and Sakura did the same, well Sakura held up the bell and Sasuke chuckled. I reached for my belt just to make sure I wasn't imagining it, and the bells were gone "Oh" I was disappointed the test had ended so quickly, then Naruko and Sasuke said "Heh, a Ninja must see through deception" and then Sakura did a peace sign and said "Isn't that right Sensei?" I closed my eyes once more with a small chuckle, and put my hand on my head "I deserve that" and we all started laughing.

Naruko's P.O.V:

A few minutes later we were all standing by the river, Kakashi-Sensei was leaning against a tree looking at his book, he had re-covered his Sharingan "I never dreamed I'd go down because of this" we all just chuckled again and Sensei sighed "I should've just gone ahead and finished it" I burst out laughing again "What are you even wasting your time with that for? It's the most boring book ever" "Huh?" "Yeah the Pervy-Sage loaned it to me, but it was such a snooze-fest I didn't make it past page 10" "Wha…" finally I said with a cheeky grin on my face "So you know, I couldn't have spoiled it for you" his eye went wide and he was stuttering whilst pointing at me, finally he slumped forward and Sakura said "Even though Naruko didn't know the ending, we figured just the mention of Make Out Tactics, would be enough to freeze you in your tracks, pretty good strategy huh?" "Uh-huh" then Sasuke said "So what happens now, because I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted and starving" Sakura and I both shrugged because we didn't know.

Minato's P.O.V:

They did it, they took the bells from Kakashi, now it was time for my part I walked forward, with Shizune and the Sannin behind me "You three have certainly demonstrated some growth" and they all turned towards me and Sakura said "Oh, Lord Hokage" I looked to Kakashi and said "Kakashi, is there anything you'd like to say?" "Well, they did a great job getting hold of those bells, so…" Naruko, Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other in confusion then Naruko turned to Kakashi "Why, what are you guys talking about?" then Shizune spoke "Well we've been discussing what your status will be in the future, Naruko" that got her attention as she turned to me and asked "Hm, what our status will be?" I spoke then "Naruko Namikaze" "Yeah?" "Speak up" "Yes Sir!" "Sakura Haruno" "Lord Hokage!" "Sasuke Uchiha" "Sir!" I looked at all three of them "You three are a team again, along with your old Sensei, from this day on you'll be Team Kakashi" Sakura spoke up after I said this "Team Kakashi?" then Naruko said "That sounds pretty cool. So what'll we be doing then, what's the scoop?" it was Kakashi that answered her "It means we'll be going on all of our missions together. You and I will be peers now" they all turned to look at him, and he continued "That's the long and the short of it. The days of Sensei and student are passed, we're Leaf Shinobi on equal grounds, got it?" Naruko nodded and said "Oh yeah, 110%" and Jiraiya-Sensei chuckled at that, "Alright, you guys are done for the day, why don't you head back to the village and get something to eat" and with that Team Kakashi nodded and left the training grounds.

Naruko's P.O.V:

A few minutes later we were all walking through the village, when Kakashi-Sensei spoke up "You guys have definitely gotten stronger that's for sure, I never dreamed you would've snagged those bells" and I turned to Kakashi-Sensei and said "Well what can I say, maybe I've finally surpassed you Sensei" and Sakura and Sasuke said at the same time "Yeah like that would ever happen, knucklehead" causing me to droop a little, Sensei chuckled and said "Well I'm not over the hill quite yet, in fact just the other day I worked out this unbelievable new Jutsu, let me tell you, you've got to see it to believe it it's absolutely…" I was distracted from what he was saying by my stomach growling I grabbed it and groaned a little "Oh man I forgot, I haven't had a bowl of Ramen from Ichiraku's since I got back" then Sakura added "Now that you mention it, I'm starving after last nights challenge actually" and Sasuke agreed "Me too" I looked at them and said "Then say no more next stop Ichiraku Ramen!" and I ran in the direction of Ichiraku's and I heard Sakura and Sasuke shout "Right!" then I heard them running after me.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

They left me, they didn't even seem bothered about my new Jutsu _'I miss the cute little newbie's, who used to react with wonder at everything I said and did'_ I was a little depressed that they were more interested in food than my new Jutsu. There were footsteps beside me, I looked up and it was Master Jiraiya, "She's all yours again, I leave her in your capable hands as agreed", in the distance I could hear my team "I have missed this Ramen so much" "And guess who's footing the bill" "Sensei, Sensei" Master Jiraiya then continued "We need to be prepared if The Akatsuki are beginning to move again. I'm going to head out and see what I can find out about them" I just nodded when he looked at me "So long" and with that he was gone, "Kakashi-Sensei!" "Hm?" "We thought you should know, we decided that your treating us to Ramen!" "Now come on let's go we're starving!" unfortunately for them I had some things I needed to do "Sorry you guys, I have to compile a unit dossier for the new team and send it along for filing so unfortunately, I'm out" and with that I was gone.

Naruko's P.O.V:

"Huh, he split" then Sakura said "Dossier my eye he's probably off to finish that book of his. Cheapskate" so I just said "Well if that's the case we could just go without him, that way we'll have a chance to catch up, without Sensei interrupting us" Sasuke then added "Alright but that means your treating us" and he and Sakura began to head to Ichiraku's again, I took out my wallet and opened it, I only had enough for one bowl so I said to them "You uh don't want to go halvsies?" the response I got was both of them saying "Forget it!" and they both left me on my own.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I couldn't believe how strong Naruko was now, and the others too. Mission's are going to be very interesting.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I was standing in front of Ichiraku's "Yep, looks like Ichiraku hasn't changed a bit since I've been away" I smelled the air "Mm that's the smell I love, I'm getting hungry. Here goes" and I walked into the stand, there was the old man behind the counter cooking "Hey how's it going?" he turned at my greeting "Hello there" "Old man, come on don't you remember me?" he looked at me for a few seconds before quietly saying "Naruko?" then a grin spread on his face "As I live and breathe," he laughed "how could I ever forget that face?!" I walked up to the counter "Long time no see" and the old man's Daughter turned around "Huh? Naruko, look how much you've grown!" I sat down in front of them "It's sure good to see you guys again" "Well what'll you have? Still got your appetite?" "You bet I'm starving!" "Ok, then today your food's on the house, order anything you want" "No way!" then from behind me a very familiar voice cried "Hold it," "Huh?" "Let me get this one. I had a hunch you might be here Naruko" I gasped "Iruka-Sensei!" he walked in and looked around then said "Hey where are Sakura and Sasuke? I thought they'd be here with you" I looked down at the counter and said "Uh, well if I'd known the cheque was gonna be taken care of, I definitely would've brought them along" I heard him say "Huh?".

Sakura's P.O.V:

"I don't know, maybe we should've let her treat us to half a bowl of Ramen or something." then I smiled and finished my order before holding up the bowl and yelling "Another order of anmitsu dessert please!".

Naruko's P.O.V:

Old man Ichiraku set the bowl on the counter "One extra large serving, of the house special Ramen" I couldn't believe it after 2 and a half years there was a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen in front of me "Whoa! Oh man a real Ichiraku Ramen, for all these years, through my entire training I dreamt about eating this Ramen again" "Oh yeah, well you better hurry it's getting cold" "Oh right! Time to chow down" and with that I broke my chopsticks and began eating.

Iruka's P.O.V:

I couldn't stop looking at Naruko, she'd grown so much since she left to train with Master Jiraiya. But she obviously still loved Ramen, judging by how fast she was eating it

_Flashback:_

"_I kind of wanna ask a little favour sensei" "You want another bowl?" "Mm-mm I wanna try on your headband come on please" "Oh this, no way you can only wear the Leaf Headband when you finally graduate from the Academy and become a Ninja, you've got to pass the test tomorrow" "That is so un-cool"_

"_Naruko" "Mm?" "you've sure come a long way since the time you were just a kid trying to earn one of these" "I'll say, I'm glad you noticed, admit it aren't you glad you gave me this headband. It looks pretty darn good on me don't you think" "I wouldn't be so cocky, you've still got a long way to go be careful that you don't get a swelled head" "Humph"_

_Flashback end._

'_She's grown so much since then'_ she finished her current mouthful of Ramen and said "Wow it's just like I remember, Ichiraku's the best in the world!" and went right back to eating and I decided to join her as Mr. Ichiraku said "I'm glad to hear you say that again" I began eating my Ramen and then she said "Except," "Huh?" "there is one thing I'm not too happy about" that didn't go well with Ichiraku "Naruko, you come into my shop after all this time, and the first thing you do is tell me what's wrong with my cooking. Huh?!" he said rolling up his sleeve, that's when Naruko began to explain "No it's not like that, there's nothing wrong with the Ramen it's perfect as always" "Then what is it?!" Naruko looked down and said "It's just that, I was hoping the next time Iruka-Sensei treated me to Ramen, would be on the day when I finally became a Chunnin" I sighed "Oh Naruko" "Every single one of my classmates has made the leap up to Chunnin or Jounin, the only one who's still a Genin is me" I could tell she was a little upset by this so I said "It doesn't matter whether technically your a Genin, a Chunnin or a Jounin you've been trained privately by master Jiraiya himself" she just said "I know, I know but even that hasn't been a walk in the park, that Pervy-sage is out of control. His trainings so intense it messed up the Headband you gave me and all my clothes got totally ruined to, that's why I had to go get this new outfit made for me and a replacement cloth for my Headband" she said indicating to them when she mentioned them, it was then that I noticed that the only part of Naruko's clothes that was orange, were her shorts, her jacket was black and so was the cloth of her Headband, "I'm sure the training was very intense at times, but it made you strong didn't it you should be proud of yourself" I told her with a smile and she responded with "Yeah I've definatley gotten another step closer to becoming Hokage" I chuckled and said "Well somebody sounds confident these days" she nodded "Sure and speaking of which, I heard Gaara already became Kazekage of The Sand Village" "Oh well Gaara's sort of a special case" and Naruko went quiet for a few seconds "You say he's special but that's not it," "Huh?" "just because your special doesn't make you The Kazekage, I know what I'm talking about here, that guy I bet you he worked incredibly hard all that time pushing himself, proving himself to everyone until he was Kazekage".

Minato's P.O.V:

I was finishing off some reports and looking through the mission ledger when Shizune said "Lord Hokage, tell me have you decided on a first mission for Team Kakashi" "Those guys did nothing but train for the last 2 and a half years. So if you ask me their gonna need to make up for all that lost time. Ooh how about this one here a Land of Rice Patties escort run, a nice tricky B-Rank mission" "But sir, Naruko hasn't been on a real mission in a pretty long time. Don't you think we ought to start her off with something easier. Hm here like this one" she looked through the missions and handed me the one she found "Hm a dog walking job, that's only a D-Rank, Sakura and Sasuke are both Chunnin's now, and you and I both know that Naruko's stronger, I cant send them to walk someone's fleabag" "It's just don't forget about the Nine-Tailed Fox, if we send her out of the village too soon couldn't it, um" "Yes but that's why I teamed them up with Kakashi again, Shizune" "I know but I, I just worry that" I handed her a mission and said "Fine give them this one then, that's my final offer" she took it "Escorting a gold convoy, a C-Rank mission?" then I said "If I know my Daughter, and I'm pretty sure I do, she won't like that one at all. She'll say its way too easy" I said the last part with a smile on my face.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I sneezed _'Someone must be talking about me'_, as I sneezed one of the boiled eggs fell onto the ground and cracked "Huh?" I reached down and picked it up "Sorry about that old man" "Don't worry, it's nothing" I looked at it and the bit of shell that had cracked fell off "Oh man, what a total waste".

Iruka's P.O.V:

I looked at my old student "You know Naruko, now it's your turn to go after your dream" she looked at me and said "Hm, he's already the Kazekage and I'm still just some insignificant little Genin" "But all that training with Master Jiraiya wasn't for nothing right? Rumour has it that you, Sakura and Sasuke managed to snatch Kakashi's bells, and that's something to be proud of" and she got a big grin on her face "Yeah doing that was more of a synch than I thought, who knows I might even be stronger than you now Iruka-Sensei" I looked at her and with a little chuckle said "What? Not so fast, you've got a long way to go before you can beat me" "Well I guess we won't know that for sure, unless we go head to head" I laughed at this as she finished the broth in her Ramen bowl "Yeah right, well anyway tomorrow morning you'll be back as a member of Team Kakashi, I wish you luck" she nodded "Mm. Mark my words, I will become the Hokage. There's no way I'm gonna let Gaara out do me" with that I said goodbye to the old man and his Daughter, and left Ichiraku's with Iruka-Sensei after he had paid the bill. Once outside we both said our goodbyes and I headed home. When I got there Dad wasn't back, he must have been finishing some work, I knew if that was the case he wouldn't feel like cooking when he came in, so I got a cup of Instant Ramen out of the cupboard and left it on the table, wrote him a note and went up to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Kazekage Gaara of The Desert vs Deidara of The Akatsuki

Gaara's P.O.V:

I was standing on the roof of the Kazekage Mansion, looking out over the village, who would've thought that I, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku, would one day become Kazekage. I heard footsteps behind me and then Baki's Voice "Lord Kazekage, the meeting is about to begin" I looked at him from the corner of my eye "Very well" and turned and headed with Baki towards the meeting room. Once inside and everyone was seated the Council and myself discussed budgets, trade deals and peace treaty agreements Baki brought up the next subject "Over the last few years our village has enjoyed stability and prosperity, largely due to our dealings with the Hidden Villages of the allied lands. To give, one example of this, our recruits are better trained, thanks to new training methods, methods learned from The Hidden Leaf Village" one of the Elder members of the Council spoke up at this "We'll see how much better they are. The Chunnin Exams are almost upon us" it was then that one of the Advisors, Yura spoke up "Correct, and that's why these nasty rumours are especially troubling right now" "Rumours, Yura?" "Yes Sir, have you ever heard of a group called, The Akatsuki?" now I was interested "The Akatsuki is a mysterious organization, comprised of a dozen or so Shinobi. Every one of it's members, is listed in the Bingo Book as ruthless S-Rank criminals. of those that have been identified, one is Itachi Uchiha from The Village Hidden in the Leaves, a man who was framed for the annihilation of the Uchiha Clan in a single night. Another is Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the 7 Ninja Swordsmen the former Phantom of The Mist Village, and the last is Sasori of the Red Sand from our own village." this was startling information, then Baki added his thoughts on the matter into the mix "I see. Yes I'd heard something of this myself recently. So they're finally making their move" Yura continued "We have this information from one of the Legendary Sannin, Master Jiraiya himself, and some of the information also came from the Daughter of The Fourth Hokage, Naruko Namikaze. According to her, The Akatsuki's goal is possibly to capture the Jinchuriki of the Tailed-Beasts, and possibly any children of the current Kage's, as during her training with Master Jiraiya they were attacked by them, and they wanted him to hand her over." so she was a target of this group too, that's how she knew what their objectives possibly were "So before this meeting was convened I took the liberty of ordering the village to be secured. And I've stationed Anbu Black Ops at key points on the perimeter. No matter how clever these Shinobi may be, if they hope to take us by surprise they're mistaken. We've heard from Naruko Namikaze that they often wear distinctive black cloaks emblazened with red clouds, if our lookouts spot such a cloak, they've been ordered by me to attack at once." whispers erupted in the meeting room at this then Baki ended the meeting "Very well then, this meeting is adjourned" and everyone left except me, many thoughts were going through my head, _'If these Akatsuki were brave enough to face a Sannin to try and get Naruko, what else are they capable of'_.

Yura's P.O.V:

I was walking beside one of the Elder Council members as we left the meting "Well done Yura, we're all impressed by the promptness and prudence of your actions" that was high praise indeed "Hm well I have had a seat on the Council of Advisors for 4 years, and I've learned that I…must be able to make decisions on my own…while always considering…the best interests of the village" something was wrong, it felt as if something broke inside my mind, I reached up and grabbed my head as if I had a headache "Hm what's wrong?" I waved his concern off "Nothing, it's nothing, I'm just tired that's all" "Careful, you push yourself to hard" "Thank you for your concern" _'I see, so that's what's'_

Deidara's P.O.V:

We were almost to the Sand Village but there was some business to take care of after we had the Jinchuriki "The one who's in place here will be the first it seems. The one we sent to the Leaf will have to wait, this one's turned traitor and has been talking about our movements hm" Sasori spoke up from beside me sounding a little bored "Can't be helped I suppose. But even I don't know what will happen once the Jutsu is cast. Are you sure what you've got in that pouch will be enough? Our enemy possesses the Jinchuriki host" I responded with "Every one of my Jutsu is a work of art. But just to be sure I brought along my masterpiece hm." and I opened the pouch that held my detonating clay, and my palm went to work once I stuck my hand inside "We can't take any chances, when our opponent is the One-Tail"

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

We were all watching the horizon, for any sign of these Akatsuki, when I noticed something coming toward the village "What have we here? Black cloaks with red clouds on them, it's them it must be. Captain Yura must be told at once." he was there when I turned to report to him "Captain Yura, the ones you were waiting for they're here" he began to pull up his mask "So I see. No need to worry this won't take long"

Deidara's P.O.V:

As we approached the entrance to the village Sasori's spy was waiting for us, and he began speaking with him "You've done good work. Do you remember who I am?" the spy looked at him and said "How could I forget, Lord Sasori" I just had to speak up here "Of course he remembers, wouldn't be much of a Jutsu if he didn't hm" Sasori, answered "They're still loyal servants after regaining their memory" and his spy led us into the village, once inside I looked at my palm which had been chewing my clay since we were in the desert "Is it ready? Good it's done hm, you can watch from here Sasori my man" and I threw the bird I'd moulded onto the ground and enlarged it "Hmm" I jumped on to my bird and removed my straw hat whilst saying "Leave it to me, I'll attack from above" I turned to my man Sasori and said "Beautiful isn't it? What do you think of my creation hm?" as usual Sasori just replied with his usual "Just don't keep me waiting too long, Deidara" and with that I took off into the skies above the Sand Village _'The One-Tail Shukaku's Jinchuriki host, Gaara of the Desert, hm. Let's see what he can do'_

Gaara's P.O.V:

I felt that something was strange in the village this evening, as I was writing out reports and mission assignments _'Something feels odd. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen'_

Deidara's P.O.V:

I was flying over the village when I spotted some Shinobi looking around so I used the camera on my left eye to zoom in and capture their images "That's one, two, three. They only have three guards watching the skies hm. I can't help but appreciate the architecture of this village, it's so, artistic. Just another reason why it's truly worth destroying. Time for a little covert action" I sent some of my detonating clay spiders out, once they were falling to their targets I expanded them, and it wasn't long before the Shinobi noticed them "Huh, where'd that wierd thing come from?" and they jumped on each of their faces "They're not wierd they're perfect." they were now writhing around trying to get the spiders off "Look at those fools, they have no appreciation for art huh, you have to feel art and true art…Is an explosion!" and with that I blew them up and made my way towards the roof of the Kazekage Mansion. Night had now fallen and I jumped from my bird and landed on the roof "Infiltration successful. Hm?" there was someone standing there, a young man, all he said was "That's as far as you go" a smile appeared on my face "Ooh". After that little introduction I reached into my pouch which caused the guy in front of me to gasp, then jumped into the air and landed once more on my bird before taking off into the streets of the Sand Village, but there was a bunch of sand on my tail chasing me down

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

We were on the streets watching for any signs of an intruder of some kind, when suddenly a flash of white went zooming past us, with Lord Kazekage's Sand following it "What in the world?"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I was trying to find an escape route from this sand that was on my tail, but everywhere I went it followed or appeared right in front of me. I looked down at my palm, there wasn't a lot of chewing needed now "Not much longer now" I flew up into the sky and went towards the kid who was on the roof of the Kazekage Mansion again, but as I got near to him, the sand flew up and went to attack me, so I veered out of the way, once I was high in the sky again I looked back to him and said to myself "You're pretty good aren't you? Huh" then I noticed the symbol on this guy's forehead and realised who and what he was _'Huh that Jinchuriki sure comes in handy doesn't it'_ he moved his hands, and the sand he was controlling formed a path directly to me, he jumped and landed on it and it formed a circular platform underneath him "Tell me, how did you guess I was an intruder?" his response was "There are no birds, like that one in this desert" "Is that so?"

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

There had been no word from the lookouts that were stationed around the Kazekage Mansion, watching the skies, but there was obviously an intruder in the village judging by the reports from the Shinobi on the ground, so I went to find out what was happening "Hey what the hecks going on out there?" but there was no answer, so I opened the door "Isn't anyone gonna tell me what's going on?…" there was one of our lookouts, dead, from the looks of it something had exploded on his face "Wh-what happened out here?" I looked up, and the sight that met my eyes was the Kazekage in battle above the village "Lord Kazekage"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I was walking towards Gaara's office with a Shinobi filling me on what was happening "Well how did this, intruder, whoever he is get into the village? I thought Captain Yura, was supposed to have tightened our security" his response stopped me dead in my tracks, and made me more than a little worried for Gaara "Yes but, that's the strange part we haven't been able to locate Captain Yura anywhere" I turned to him "What did you say?" and with that I headed to Gaara's office as fast as I could

Sasori's P.O.V:

I was watching what that imbecile was doing in the sky above the village "Ugh, that blasted Deidara, he had to make a circus of it," I turned to my spy "Yura, you should get back to the village, it could complicate things if they were to find you here" he nodded "Yes, Lord Sasori" and with that he was gone, I turned my attention once more to what was going on "Get on with it Deidara. You know I don't like to be kept waiting"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I reached his office, and knocked on the door "Gaara, you in there?" there was no answer so I opened the door and went in, there was no sign of him or where he could've gone "Where on earth could he be?" then a Shinobi ran in saying "Kankuro, my lord the Kazekage is fighting in the sky above the village" this surprised me "What he's fighting in the…" I ran to the window, and looked out. Sure enough there was Gaara fighting someone in the sky "Gaara"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I was just staring at him, and he was staring right back "Well so much for a covert operation huh," I once more used my camera, this time to capture the image of the Sand's Jinchuriki "at least this way I don't have to go, looking for you" he raised his hands which caused me to gasp, and a ton of sand rose up from the village, to join the sand he already had at his disposal, and it started heading towards me "Tactically, he does have the advantage. This could get messy heh"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I was running with a small group of Sand Shinobi on the roof of the Mansion so I could get a better look at the fight, we all stopped once we had a clear view of the battle. But my eyes were solely fixed on my Brother, whoever this enemy was he used explosives "Gaara"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I was avoiding the sand that was chasing me as best as I could, I looked at my palms and noticed that my clay was almost ready to be moulded "Yes it's almost time" once they spat out he clay I moulded it into 6 homing types, I went towards my target, but the sand came to block me again so I dodged and turned to face him "The real funs about to begin hm" and I threw the first 3 towards him but they didn't even break through the sand. Then I threw the last 3 "Now!" and some of the sand was broken

Gaara's P.O.V:

_'Unusual explosive devices, accurately guided to their targets'_

Deidara's P.O.V:

I moved away from him, and my palms began chewing up more of my detonating clay "I think I'm getting the hang of this, hm". The sand was still coming after me and my next 2 homing types were ready "Now then" I threw them and enlarged them "This time with feeling hah" he tried to bring up a defence but I thought my explosives were to close for him to be able to defend himself in time "Hah!"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

Gaara was bringing up a defence when there was an explosion right by where he was, I yelled his name "Gaara!"

Deidara's P.O.V:

After the smoke from the explosion cleared there was a globe of sand where my target was _'Looks like he's encased himself inside a cocoon. It's amazing he survived the blast. if he survived it hm' _then I gasped as a huge shadow fell over me, and I looked up it was a barrage of sand, and the Jinchuriki's voice yelled out "Sand Prison!". I knew if I didn't get out I would be caught "Well this certainly isn't good hm" I moved my bird as fast as I could but I still got caught

Kankuro's P.O.V:

Gaara had caught his enemy "It's all over" from behind me the Shinobi that had come with me were talking "Leave it to the Kazekage" "Yeah as long as we have Lord Kazekage, The Sand Village will be fine" I chuckled to myself then I noticed something "Hold on" the bottom of the Sand Prison exploded, and the enemy fell out, I could hear the villagers talking amongst themselves below as Gaara's sand caught him and threw him back towards the sphere

Deidara's P.O.V:

I blasted the bottom of the sphere open, and managed to escape. But his sand followed me and managed to catch me when it tried to throw me back into the sphere, I threw another one of my birds, and expanded it before the sphere of sand closed and managed to escape it again. I looked back and said to myself "That sand's a real pain, isn't it? Hm"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

He was still trying to get away, "What an idiot. There isn't a man alive who can escape Gaara's sand" as we continued watching Baki's voice came from behind me "Kankuro!" I turned to look behind me "Yeah, what is it?" and Baki appeared with three Sand Shinobi "Where is Lord Gaara, is he still in battle?" I nodded and pointed to Gaara's location "Yes, he's up there" the Shinobi with him gasped and I heard him say "Come on Gaara"

Gaara's P.O.V:

The enemy that had managed to get past our security was still trying to get away, but my sand managed to latch onto his left arm, I reached my hand out of my defence causing it to grab tighter to his arm, even then he still tried to blow it up it was time "Sand Coffin!" and I saw blood erupt from where my sand was on his arm. From below me I heard people shouting "He did it. He got him!" "The Kazekage is amazing" but even so he managed to get away

Baki's P.O.V:

I couldn't believe it "Darn, he's gotten away" and Kankuro said "He just got lucky. It won't happen again"

Deidara's P.O.V:

He had managed to crush my left arm, so now I could only mould my clay with one hand, as I moved away from the Jinchuriki I looked back at him "He's good alright, oh yeah." and then I thought _'I get it the sand he used to crush my arm, is faster and more powerful than ordinary sand from the desert. According to our information he always carries arround a fixed amount of it around with him, so it stands to reason that sand is different, infused with a large amount of Chakra probably, that's his go to for quick defence and the source of all his lightning fast attacks. What did they call it again?'_ the sand moved in for another attack but I dodged and in doing so I remembered what it was "Now I remember, The Ultimate Defence. So that's the Sand Village's Ultimate Defence hm. In other words the portion missing from that hole, is what crushed my arm" I reached into my pouch and laughed _'I've only got a little clay left' _I was glaring at my target now _'Ugh I underestimated him, I should've been better prepared hm' _"I guess Sasori was right on the money, I hate that"

_Flashback:_

"_Are you sure what you've got in that pouch will be enough? Our enemy possesses the Jinchuriki host"_

_Flashback end._

_'I only have enough for one last homing type and my specialty of course, hm' _I pulled out my specialty "What to do? Guess I'll just destroy it all haha"

Sasori's P.O.V:

I was still waiting for that idiot "Damn fool, how long do you expect me to stay here Deidara? I told him, I don't like to be kept waiting"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

From below me, I heard someone say "Lord Kazekage" one of the Shinobi that had first come to the roof with me was using some binoculars to get a better look at Gaara's enemy, he then said "A black cloak with a red cloud pattern. Judging by the garb that he's in, the enemy our Lord is fighting against is most likely a member of The Akatsuki" even though I was focused on the battle I responded "Yeah I figured" then Baki called out to me "Kankuro…" "What is it?" he looked up at Gaara then said to me "Gaara's resorted to his Ultimate Defence up there. I think it's safe to assume this enemy he's facing is a serious threat. We can't rule out the possibilty of Gaara losing control," this caused me to gasp, was he insinuating what I think he was "The Shukaku could be unleashed and our people will be in danger" I smiled and said "Hm, you don't have to worry about that. I know Gaara would never harm the people of this village. Not ever" and I had a flashback to when Gaara told me he wanted to become Kazekage

_Flashback:_

"_Gaara, let it go. I don't wanna say this but, you know how they see you. You're a weapon of terror. Seriously leaving us and joining the regular troops is not gunna be an easy thing. They're full of Jonin who think pretty poorly of you, and most of the villagers they're as terrified of you as they've always been" "I know that." "Huh?" "I've always known, but doing nothing at all, will almost certainly bring even greater pain. I know what I must do. I must clear my own path, and perhaps then that day will come...the day will come when I can be like her. I want to be part of this village, so I'm aiming for the title of Kazekage as a Shinobi of the Sand" "Gaara…" "I will work hard, and connect to the people of this village. Watching Naruko Namikaze has brought me clarity. Until I met her, my ties to others brought only pain and sorrow. But she was always pushing me, to redefine those ties. I think I finally understand, the suffering and sadness of life, the joy. These are feelings that can be shared with those around me." I smiled and nodded after he said this "It was Namikaze, she's the whole reason my eyes have opened, when we fought we connected, she's known a little of the same pain I have, she taught me that I can change the path my life will follow. One day Kankuro, I'd like to become something precious to others too. Not just to be viewed as some hideous weapon," he turned to look at me, and there was a smile on his face "but as the Sand's next Kazekage."_

_Flashback end._

I looked to Gaara and thought _'Your people do need you. You are the Kazekage of The Hidden Sand'_

Baki's P.O.V:

As Lord Kazekage's battle continued I took some initiative, I turned to the nearest Shinobi and began giving out orders "Summon the Council, immediately!" "Yes Sir!" then I turned to the next one and said "You, take 2 Squads and secure the reservoir, now!" "Sir!" and finally to the third "Seal the roads in Sector A!" "Yes Sir!" "There may be more than 1 enemy. Now I don't care what happens I want all of you poised and ready. Medical Corps, start setting up a barrier, and get all non-combatants inside of it on the double!. I don't wanna hear of a single casulty is that clear!" I watched as all the villagers were being brought inside the barrier the Medical Corps was setting up "We're here for you Gaara. Yes, we're here for the Lord Kazekage!" from beside me came Kankuro's voice saying "Hang in there"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I looked down and noticed the Shinobi of the village moving around "I think your friends are about to butt in here. Besides, I'm tired of that exspessionless face of yours" with that I let my masterpiece go and I expanded it to full size, the got a wide-eyed look from the Kazekage, and with that I let it drop and I laughed "That was a doll moulded from detonating clay, chewed up by my palm, and loaded with Chakra. It's a speciality of mine, full of C3 the most powerful Chakra I possess. It's destructive power is my masterpiece"

Baki's P.O.V:

The enemy dropped something and I heard some of our Shinobi talking "What is that?" "It's big" "We better move" I looked down and yelled "Everyone get back!"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I heard what had been yelled and said to myself "You're too late" with that my C3 Bomb began to explode. Once the smoke cleared I wasn't surprised to see a shield of sand covering the village, but that's exactly what I had wanted from the moment I dropped it

Kankuro's P.O.V:

Once the light from the blast has cleared we could all see that nothing had been destroyed, and a huge shield of sand was covering the village, some of the Shinobi began talking amongst themselves "Huh, what is that?" "Is that Lord Kazekage's sand?" "Amazing, look at the size of the shield he created" from beside me Baki said "I expect nothing less from the Kazekage" I was so proud of him right now "Gaara did it"

Gaara's P.O.V:

I was gasping I had only just managed to create the shield in time, my opponent then said "Now your within range, heh" from the corner of my eyes I saw one of his explosive devices moving in "Huh" and I brought up my shield just in time but as it exploded I heard Kankuro shout my name "Gaara!"

Baki's P.O.V:

I heard people talking all around us "He did it, our leader is astonishing" "Yeah" and I added my thoughts into the open as well "Hm, Gaara's Ultimate Defence can withstand much more than that detonation" from behind me came the voice of one of the Shinobi that had set up the units that would fire arrows at the enemy "Lord Baki, our attack preparations are now complete" "Very well. You will launch the assault on my signal" and I could hear the arrow launcher being aimed at the member of The Akatsuki that had managed to get through our security

Deidara's P.O.V:

Just as I thought he had formed his defence the moment the bird had been in his sight "I expected as much, that special sand of his makes quite a tight defense hm"

_'However, that's exactly what I was counting on' "_Heh my left hand might of been crushed. But I used the oppertunity to eat your sand and I mixed some of it with my detonating clay. You doomed yourself the moment you used that sand to try and form a defence hm, and the best part is I planned it that way all along. True art is…" and from inside the sphere I heard him shout "No!" "AN EXPLOSION!" and with that my clay exploded at the closest range possible, inside his defensive sphere, with him inside

Kankuro's P.O.V:

What the, what just happened? Something was wrong, the sand was falling away from Gaara's Ultimate Defence. Baki spoke from beside me "That blast? What happened inside the sphere?" "Is, is he?" the sand was falling a little more quickly now, I ran up to the fence that surrounded the roof of the Mansion and yelled my Brother's name "GAARA!" from behind me Baki and 2 of the Shinobi that had arrived with him ran up to me and the 2 Shinobi said at the same time "Lord Kazekage!?" then Baki said "No it can't be, he broke Gaara's Ultimate Defence" I added my thoughts "How on earth did he do that?"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I was just staring at the sphere waiting for the moment when the Kazekage would be revealed so I could grab him, _'I had to detonate at point blank range, so I needed to get you to defend yourself using the sand sand armour that crushed my hand. Except I only had one attack left, so I thought how can I manipulate him to make sure my explosion would be at a close enough range, that's when I got the idea to drop my specialty right on top of your village hm' _the sand had been falling away during my thought and then the Jinchuriki was revealed, he was unconscious so I moved in to get him "Time to get the prize hm" then he started moving so with a gasp I moved back, then the sand shield started moving and I realised what he was doing "Hm ah yes of course, such a noble Kazekage, fighting when it would be so much easier to drop it on their heads"

Baki's P.O.V:

The shield that Gaara created to protect the village started moving "What now?" it was Kankuro that answered me "He's using every last bit of power, to transport the sand safely outside the village. He's trying to save his people" I couldn't believe it, even after being weakened by a point blank range blast inside of his Ultimate Defence he was still trying to save us "Oh, Gaara" I turned to my men and said "What do you men think you're doing?, we must rescue our Kazekage. Commence the attack!" "Yes Sir!" and with that our attack started "Fire!"

Deidara's P.O.V:

Arrows where heading for me, it seems the Shinobi of the Sand were trying to save their Kazekage from me, I dodged every arrow "Hm, why do you even bother ha" they launched a second attack "Again!" as the arrow came towards me I said "Don't you get it your arrows won't work ha!" but then I noticed there was a Paper Bomb on it and as I dodged it exploded "They're getting a bit more creative aren't they?" I dodged the next barrage of arrows "Guess I better wrap this up, Sasori might get ticked off if I'm not there soon huh"

Sasori's P.O.V:

I was till waiting for that idiot to arrive with the Jinchuriki "How long are you gunna keep me waiting?"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

The villagers were shouting encouragement to Gaara "Lord Kazekage, you can do it!" I added my own even though I knew he wouldn't hear me "Gaara, come on don't give up yet." slowly the sand made it's way out of the village, finally it was outside and it fell to the ground "He did it" everyone around me was praising him, and then he fell unconscious, and began falling from the sky

Deidara's P.O.V:

He fell unconscious after transporting the sand out of the village and began falling from the sky, I laughed and moved towards him whilst still avoiding the arrows that were being fired at me "Taking him down without killing him was harder than I thought" and I moved in to catch him

Kankuro's P.O.V:

The enemy was moving in on Gaara, I ran forward "Gaara!" from behind me I heard Baki say "Hurry save the Kazekage!" more arrows were fired but it was too late "No!"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I caught him and looked behind me, so I could get a proper look at the Sand's Jinchuriki "Well my mission is clear hm" as I was beginning to think about leaving the village, and joining Sasori, someone shouted out the Jinchuriki's name "GAARA!"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Kankuro pursues Gaara and The Akatsuki

Baki's P.O.V:

I couldn't believe it, Gaara, our Kazekage had been taken down. The Akatsuki member that had defeated and captured him was still in the skies above the village, he looked back at the village and all of us, and it seemed he was laughing because he had a grin on his face. Suddenly, from behind me, one of the units that was assigned to shooting arrows at the enemy yelled "This'll stop him!" and they launched an arrow with a Paper Bomb at him, but he just dodged it. After it exploded I realised that they could hit the Kazekage, so I turned to the Shinobi beside me and said to him "They might hit Lord Kazekage. Tell them to cease fire, immediately!" he stood to attention and acknowledged what I had said "Sir!" then he turned to the units and shouted out "Hold your fire! All units cease fire at once!" and all the units responded with yelling out to each other so they all knew "Cease fire! Cease fire!" Kankuro and I were looking up at him, he was directly over the Kazekage Mansion now. Kankuro whispered "Gaara" and our enemy circled the Mansion "What the devil is he up to now?" then all of a sudden he started heading towards one of the entrances to the village which caused both me and Kankuro to gasp and he said from beside me "Don't tell me he's leaving the village!"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I began to leave the Sand Village, as I did I said to myself "I've kept my man Sasori waiting long enough I think hm"

Baki's P.O.V:

He wasn't slowing down or changing course _'Ugh is he going to carry him off alive?' _Kankuro sprang forward from beside me and said to me as he ran and jumped off of the roof of the Mansion "I'm going after him!" he was jumping from roof to roof and I realised he intended to go after Gaara on his own "Kankuro no! Don't go by yourself wait for a Backup Squad!" he just turned to me and yelled back "By then he and Gaara will be long gone!" I realised I couldn't stop him so I said "Alright, but don't engage until we catch up with you!" "Right! Understood!" and with that he was gone from my sight "Damn!"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

As I chased after the guy who had captured Gaara I thought to myself _'So he was after Gaara all along' _then from beside me came the voice of one of our Shinobi "Lord Kankuro, we're here" Baki had been quick to assemble a Backup Squad to aid me in chasing after Gaara, either that or they were here of their own free will, with the same desperate desire as me, to save our Kazekage, "We can't let that guy get away!" and simultaneously they all said "Right!" then I noticed the bastard was losing altitude _'He's landing, he doesn't realise we've got a security unit stationed right there' _this could be our chance to save Gaara and defeat this enemy and threat to our village, the other holders of the Tailed-Beasts and Naruko Namikaze of the Leaf

Deidara's P.O.V:

As my bird landed on the ground I said to my partner "Well, I've cleared my mission hm" and boy did he sound angry when he responded to what I had said "You're late. I told you don't keep me waiting!" he lashed out at me but I ducked with a grunt "Aren't we grumpy" I looked at my prisoner "This one was rather strong you know, hm" I looked back to my man Sasori and he just replied with "Yes, perhaps next time you'll listen to me" I just ignored that and said "Everything ready here?" and of course he was still a little mad at me, I could tell by his tone of voice when he replied "Well _of course_ it is! I had plenty of time to see to it. Unlike you, I know what I'm doing!" nice so he had set-up his trap whilst I was battling the Jinchuriki "Hm, well then, lets get going hm" and with that I jumped from my bird so I would be walking beside Sasori, and we bagan making our way back across the desert towards where the extraction of the One-Tail would take place. Sasori looked back to the village and I heard him say "I'm never coming back here again" instead of commenting like I wanted to, I just put my straw hat back on and kept walking

Kankuro's P.O.V:

As myself and the Squad with me approached the entrance to the village that the guy who took Gaara had gone through, I realised something was wrong so I stopped, and decided to stop the Squad with me as well "Wait hold it!" they instantly stopped when I said this, one of them asked me "Why, what's the matter sir?" and I explained why I had stopped our pursuit of Gaara and the enemy "It's way too quiet. We have a whole Squad guarding this entrance to the village, he landed right on top of them we should be hearing the sounds of fighting. So then why is it as quiet as a grave? On top of that, they never replied to my message asking them to confirm their position. What's going on out here?" the Shinobi on my left jumped up to the first lookout level and looked towards the desert, all of a sudden he yelled out "Ugh Lord, Lord Kankuro!" he sounded a little shaken so I yelled to him "What have you found?!" and with that he lead myself and the rest of the Squad up to the top of the hill and as I looked down I gasped in horror, lying there were the bodies of all the members of the security unit "Wh-What happened? It's a bloody massacre" I headed over to one of the men to check for a pulse but found none, then I realised if this had just happened we would have heard it, this could only have happened before that guy battled Gaara "This didn't just happen now, it might have been before Gaara's battle started" 2 of the men in the Squad spoke up at this "There were Anbu Black Ops in this unit" "Their attackers must have heavily outnumbered them" and I added my thoughts into the mix "Or maybe not" "What do you mean?" I just shook my head whilst standing up and saying "Nothing, forget about it" and with that I stood up and thought to myself _'When Gaara was named Kazekage I investigated everyone! There's no way we could have a traitor among the Sand Village Shinobi' _after I finished my thought I looked towards the desert and said to my Squad "Whatever happened, the ones who took Gaara passed this way, and they're getting farther away every second. Lets move!" they responded with "Yes Sir!" and with that we were on the move again. Suddenly one of the men shouted to me "Here Sir, one of them is still alive!" I looked behind me and he was going to help the survivor up so I stopped and yelled to him "Wait, be careful how you handle him!" as he helped the guy up we both noticed something that sent alarm bells ringing in my head, my Squad member gasped out "Huh?" and to all of our horror there was a Paper Bomb on the guy who supposedly survived I yelled out so the other Squad members could hear "A Paper Bomb!" and then it exploded causing numerous other explosions, we had walked right into a trap, set by the enemy. Through the sound of the rocks falling I heard the members of my squad crying out 2 of them were near me, and the other 3 had been buried under the rubble, I reached for the scroll that held my puppet, Salamander, and just managed to get it out in time to save myself and the last 2 members of my Squad

Sasori's P.O.V:

As we were walking away from the Sand Village I heard my trap activate, Deidara was kind enough to point it out even though I could hear it "Sounds to me, like someone just fell for your trap Sasori my man, hm" he was such an idiot at times "Well of course. It wouldn't have been much of a trap if they hadn't" "Well I guess that's true enough, hm" and we continued onto our destination

Baki's P.O.V:

Myself and a Squad headed towards the site of the explosion and saw nothing but a pile of rubble, we all stopped and I gasped out "No, can't be…" the Shinobi on my right, who had also been the one to alert Kankuro, of Gaara's battle said "Do you think Kankuro and the others were caught in that trap?" could it be, could they have got Kankuro too "No I, I can't believe it" all of a sudden the rubble from the explosion started shaking, oh no don't tell me, I yelled out to the others "Watch out it's gonna collapse!" then there was a poof of smoke and something appeared on top of the rubble "What in the?…" another poof of smoke, and Kankuro was revealed holding 2 members of the Backup Squad that had followed after him, he was growling in anger "Ugh, Kankuro" he gently set the men down whilst saying "I was only able to save two of them" he turned to me and said "These men need medical attention hurry!" then he stood up after he rolled up his puppet scroll "Wait, what are you going to do?" he was facing the desert and he yelled out his answer "What do you think?! I'm gonna bring Gaara back!" this shocked me, if Gaara couldn't defeat The Akatsuki member that had carried him off, what hope did Kankuro have of defeating him "Are you insane?! Didn't you see what he did to Gaara? Do you really think you stand a chance alone?" he turned to face me again, the anger was clear on his face "What are you suggesting, that we just let him go?!" I answered him as best I could with the plan I had in mind "No of course not. We'll find out where his base is, then assemble a large, fully equipped Squad" but he wasn't listening, he just placed his puppet scroll back in place where they were strapped to his back _'It's no use'_ I knew then that I had to let him go ahead alone, he was too focused on saving his brother to listen to reason, and think about this rationally "Very well, go on and follow them, but you're not to engage!" he looked at me and said whilst turning towards the desert once more "I'll try, but no promises!" and with that he was gone _'Ugh damn you Kankuro'_

Kankuro's P.O.V:

After I jumped down from the pile of rocks that was now blocking this entrance to the village, I looked up so I could see which way the bastards that took Gaara had gone, what I saw caused me to gasp, there were 5 or 6 sets of footprints going in various directions. They must have laid false trails, so that if anyone got past the trap they wouldn't be able to follow them. I growled, I was so frustrated right now _'So they're playing with me huh'_ and then I noticed something in the desert sand, "Huh?" I ran up to it, it was sand but a different coloured sand, I picked it up so I could get a good look at it _'This is Gaara's sand'_ I clenched my fist, I was now shaking in anger at these guys, first they kill our Security Unit, then they attack and defeat my Little Brother, the Sand's Kazekage, then they kill even more of our Shinobi by setting a trap, with these thoughts in mind I took off, following the trail that Gaara's sand had left for me to follow _'Hang on Gaara, I'm coming'_

Baki's P.O.V:

I heard Kankuro begin running in pursuit of our Kazekage, and his captors, I was so frustrated with the situation that I growled in anger before heading back to the Kazekage Mansion, on my way I told the Shinobi that had come to the sight of the trap with me "You finish up here!" "Sir!". About 10 minutes later I was walking towards the Council room in the Mansion with 2 Sand Shinobi on my tail I told the first one "Assemble a full Pursuit Squad and send them after Kankuro at once!" "Sir!" and with that he was gone then I said to the second one "Send word to The Hidden Leaf Village apprising them of the situation, more specifically, tell them we have an emergency and need the Daughter of The Fourth Hokage, Naruko Namikaze who has more information on The Akatsuki than anyone else, address it to her if you have too, now!" "Sir!" and with that he was gone too, but as I kept walking I couldn't help but think _'As bad as things are, I have a feeling they're about to get much, much worse'_

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

I had done what Lord Baki had asked, I had written a Level 1 Emergency Dispatch, to Naruko Namikaze of The Hidden Leaf Village, there was only one carrier bird out of all the ones we had, that would deliver this message in less than 3 days Takamaru. I put the message on him before I sealed it "It's up to you Takamaru" with that I sealed the message, put my arm out and let him climb on before lifting my arm into the air and saying "Fly!" with that he was off, I pray he'll get there fast enough

Sand Villager's P.O.V:

Everyone was in shock, Lord Kazekage, had been defeated and captured, and now the Shinobi of our village were asking our ally the Leaf Village for help, a little boy beside me asked "What's gonna happen?" I tried to reassure him "Don't worry, I'm sure Lord Kazekage will be back soon" but I don't think it worked, as he just looked down with a worried look on his face

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I had been running for a while with no sign of them, I saw something that made me stop dead "Huh?" there were more false trails "Ugh!" I was getting more angry than anything now, then I remembered about Gaara's sand being on the true trail so I began looking for it, and then I spotted it on the trail that was on my left "That way" and once more I began following after my Brother's captors

Temari's P.O.V:

It was morning in the Leaf Village, the sun had just begun to rise, I decided that I had been here too long, so I made the decision to return to The Sand Village today, I finished strapping my fan to my back, looked out the window and said to myself "Alright" before leaving the room I was staying in and heading to the front desk of the hotel to check out. As I walked outside a voice from my right said "Well, you're up awfully early." I looked and it was Shikamaru, then he yawned and continued with what he had been saying "Everyone in their right minds still asleep" he began walking towards me, I'll admit I was a little confused as to why he was here "Why are you?…" I didn't get an answer but a few minutes later we were walking towards the Main Gate and I explained to Shikamaru why I was up so early "I have my own village to think about you know. I've been gone to long, so since I'm finished here I thought I'd head back" he just replied with "Yeah and without having any breakfast?" I'll admit I was a little touched by his concern so I just said "Oh I'll find a teahouse or something along the way." then I thought of something "Come to think of it what're you doing up so early?" he smiled and responded with "Believe me, I wish I wasn't, but I'm supposed to be your escort while you're in our little village remember. It's a drag but it's my mission" I chuckled and said "Sorry to be so much trouble" I looked ahead and we were at the gate "Your mission's done" "So I guess we'll meet again at the Chunnin Exams huh?" "Yeah I'll see you then" I began to head out of the Leaf Village when I remembered something I had wanted to say to him, I turned to look at him and said "You ask me it's time you became a Jonin, you won't have any problem if you just stop complaining about what a drag everything is" and with that I was gone but I did hear him say "Man what a drag" about 10 minutes later as I was walking through the forest, a strange wind began to blow _'I don't like the feel of that wind'_ and I began to walk faster

Sasori's P.O.V:

It was morning now, we had been walking all night, then I heard something behind us, footsteps. I stopped, and Deidara stopped as well he looked at me and said "Hm, Sasori what's the matter?" and I explained why I had stopped "I wouldn't have thought it possible, we're being followed" "Huh?" then from behind us came a voice…

Kankuro's P.O.V:

There they were, I finally caught up to them "Hold it right there. We meet at last, hand over Gaara now" the one who had entered the village scoffed and the other one said "Deidara you go on ahead" before jumping forward so he was facing me directly and I thought to myself _'The tall one he's the one riding that strange bird, the one that carried off Gaara, that means his companion is the one who set the trap in the village'_ and I reached for my puppet scrolls, and unravelled them "Are you 2 ready, for a puppet show? Crow, Black Ant, Salamander!" and then they were with me ready to do battle if needed the short one growled "I'll say it again hand over Gaara now!" we were all just staring at each other, not moving to do battle or anything, the one who had set the trap said "The Puppet Master Jutsu eh?" the other one just chuckled "Heh" he jumped onto the bird that had Gaara "I'm going on ahead enjoy the show" oh no he wasn't "Think again!" and with that I launched Crow at him, but he was stopped in mid-air just as he was about to reach his target and I gasped in shock somehow the short one had managed to stop crow, there was what looked like a tail of some kind holding Crow "What?" but the guy just lowered his head so that his hat fell off then he turned to me and said "I don't like to wait, or keep others waiting, so I'll make this _short_ and _sweet_"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Kankuro vs. Sasori of the Red Sand

Kankuro's P.O.V:

The partner of the one who took Gaara, despite being short in stature he was fast "You moved as fast as Crow. I'm impressed" his response was "The spider needs to be as fast as the fly" this confused me a little then the other one spoke up "I remember now hm, this Jinchuriki is supposed to have a couple of siblings. And one of them is some kind of Puppet Master, that must be you I guess hm. Your names uh Kantaro right? Or Kanpachi or something?" now I was more than a little mad "It's Kankuro!" I released Crow from the hold the shorter one had on him and once more sent him after the one who had captured Gaara, but he was stopped again "Forget about him, I'm your opponent" then he said to his partner "Deidara quit gawking and get out of here. You're in the way" and with that he began to leave "Fine I'll leave you to it then" I wasn't gonna let him get away "Where are you going?!" then the short one launched an attack at me which I barely managed to dodge "Didn't you hear me? _I'm_ your opponent" it was then I realised I couldn't get to Gaara without taking this one down first _'I'll have to take care of this one first, then go after the other one. But if I'm here fighting this one too long I'll lose the one who has Gaara. I can't let that happen, I only hope that Baki sent word to the Hidden Leaf Village, telling them of the situation. I pray they send Naruko, if I fail she may be the only one that can save Gaara from these bastards'_

Deidara's P.O.V:

As I was flying off with the Jinchuriki, I looked back towards Sasori and the brother of the Jinchuriki and said to myself "Not your lucky day my friend, in your case my man Sasori, is the last opponent on earth you'd ever want to face, hm" I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the guy, his death would either be quick and painless, or slow and agonising, depending on how Sasori was feeling

Baki's P.O.V:

I had received the word this morning that a Level 1 Emergency Dispatch addressed to Naruko Namikaze had been sent to the Hidden Leaf Village last night, that was a little bit of comforting news in this worrying situation. Every Shinobi in the village was working to clear the rocks that now blocked an entrance to the village, but there was still a risk of more traps being buried as well so I said to everyone "There might still be some traps remaining, so watch your step" all of a sudden I heard people running towards my location and a group of 4 Shinobi appeared in front of me "Sir the Pursuit Corps is ready to go. Anytime!" that was quick "Alright, head out after Kankuro, but remember, if you encounter the enemy avoid a battle with them if at all possible. Your sole objective is to find out where their base is understood" "Sir!" "Once we know where they are, we'll move in and rescue the Kazekage. So bring me back their position as quickly as you can. Now move out!" "Sir!" and with they were off to find Kankuro and follow the enemy but I couldn't help but think _'Please don't do anything rash in the meantime Kankuro'_ with his brother being the enemies prisoner, he would more than likely be thinking with his heart and not his head, since it was obvious he was desperate to get Gaara back when he left to follow them last night, I pray Naruko Namikaze and a Squad of Leaf Shinobi get here soon, if there was anyone outside of our village that had a chance of helping us save Gaara, it was her _'Naruko Namikaze, please hurry, Gaara and the Sand Village need your help, you changed Gaara for the better, and you're the only one myself, Kankuro and Temari trust other than ourselves to ensure Gaara's safety'_ if they'd never met, Gaara wouldn't be the man, or the Kazekage that he is today. She showed him that he could follow a different path in life, and not be the monster that we all saw him as when he was a child, and she had even gotten her Father to correct the seal on Gaara, so that he could sleep and that the Shukaku wouldn't be freed when he did, we owe that girl so much, I don't think we'll ever be able to repay her or thank her enough for everything she's done for the Sand Village

Kankuro's P.O.V:

So he wanted a fight did he "Ok if that's what you want, let the puppet show begin!"

And with that Crow and Black Ant began circling him "Faster!" and I moved the Chakra Strings so that they would move so fast that they were nothing but a blur to the eye, then I attacked with Crow's hidden kunai but he managed to block them "Pretty good so far" then he was launched into the air as Black Ant appeared underneath him "You didn't notice that Black Ant was missing did you?" with that I opened him up and my enemy fell into him once he was inside I closed Black Ant up again "And now…" I stood him up "Puppet show…" I dismantled Crow so the combo move could be used, the blades hidden in Crows body parts revealed themselves "Secret Black Move Iron Maiden!" and with that Crow's head, arms and legs launched themselves into the slots on Black Ant, and the hit was successful "The shows over" it was quiet for a while, the only thing I could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the desert, then I noticed something coming through the slots underneath Crow's weapons, but it wasn't my enemies blood "It's sand!" with that I opened up Black Ant and it wasn't my enemy that was inside him, well not the real one any way _'It's only a Sand Clone'_ then from behind me came the sound of sand shifting, I turned around and there was the real one rising up from under the sand of the desert. I launched my attack once more, by having Crow fire poison needles at him, but he just dodged them _'But how?'_ then I had Black Ant move in on him but he just knocked him away _'How does he?' _then I sent both of their body parts with the weapons hidden on the end of them at him and he deflected them as if they were nothing but flies on a hot day _'How is he able to anticipate and avoid very attack I make? And without moving a muscle?' _he spoke then and it was almost like he was taunting me "What's wrong run out of tricks?" I grit my teeth and yelled out "I'm just getting started!" and with that I launched the poison combo, Crow blasted out poison gas and Black Ant launched out poison needles "Poison Mist Inferno, Consecutive Needle Combo!" as the mist consumed him I thought to myself _'There's no way he'll be able to avoid this attack'_ and then as the poison mist began clearing I gasped he was unharmed "Are you finished?" "No way, not even the poison mist has any effect on him" he sounded a little angry when he replied to what I had said "Have I mentioned how much I dislike making people wait? It's against my policy. You've had your turn now it's mine!" he launched an attack at me and immediately I placed Salamander in front of me and his attack was deflected I chuckled a little before saying "Have a lot of fun trying to get through that" and I had a flashback to what had happened the night before when I had to use Salamander to save myself and the 2 surviving members of the Backup Squad

_Flashback:_

_The rocks were falling on the three of us and the Squad members that had survived the initial explosion were hurt so I pulled out Salamander's Scroll so that I could at least save them, I grabbed a hold them and jumped into Salamander before closing him up so we would be safe 'Salamanders shield can withstand the impact of thousands of tons of rocks'_

_Flashback end._

"As long as I stay behind it you can't touch me" but he just said "That puppet of yours does indeed have extraordinary defensive capabilities, but even the best made puppet has a weak spot" and he launched another attack "It's no use" but the tail or whatever it was veered around the shield and directly hit Salamanders weak spot "What?" then he tried to attack me but I dodged just in time "No it can't be" once I landed with a bit of distance between us I said "It didn't take him any time at all to find it's weakness" I couldn't understand how it was possible. All of a sudden out of nowhere the tail thing he was using struck me in the chest lifting me into the air, but I pushed off of it only to land on my back in pain, on the ground "That puppet you have is no different than any other. You can make the individual parts as strong as you want, but the joints are always a weak spot" I got up holding my chest in pain "And now for the real grand finale!"

Temari's P.O.V:

I was at a teahouse having a bite to eat and a drink before I continued on to the Sand Village, as I reached for my tea, the cup cracked and I froze _'I'm not someone who usually believes in omens, still, I'm getting a bad feeling' _and I looked up at the sky, praying that I was wrong

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I once more sent my puppets on the attack but not a single one hit him _'It's not possible. He knows what I'm going to do almost before I do'_ he then said "You have talent, you might even win against a different opponent" he batted away Crow's head when it emerged from the sand "those puppets of yours with all their hidden poison mechanisms" then he uncovered Black Ant from the beneath the sand "they're not hidden from me" and then he destroyed my puppets "Crow, Black Ant, Salamander!" _'No ones ever been able to read my hidden weapon attacks like this'_ then he chuckled and said "You must be wondering, how I can anticipate every attack your puppets make, Crow, Black Ant, Salamander, the answer is quite simple really. I'm the one who created them" that had me gasping in shock

Sasori's P.O.V:

I knew I had shocked him when I told him I was the creator of the puppets he used "I know I promised to finish this quickly and not keep you waiting. But facing one of my own disciples using my old toys, I can't resist savouring the moment" and he was shaking now whether from shock or the poison I didn't know but he did say "So then, you have to be, the Legendary Master Craftsman of the Puppet Corps?. The Great Sasori of the Red Sand" and he looked at the image of the red scorpion on Crows neck "I'm honoured that my name is so well known, even to a child such as you" and then another question came out of his mouth "You deserted us 20 years ago, why do you come back to us now?" "What's the point in asking questions, when you're about to die?"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

Then I knew something was wrong with me, I began to lose the feeling in my body and I fell face-first onto the ground, but I just managed to lift my head enough to stare at Sasori _'My bodies going numb, he uses poison but when? Of course it happened then'_ I realised he had used the poison when he struck me in the chest "The poison is circulating, it's over" he went in for another attack, but I wasn't going anywhere without getting his scent for someone to track, I used Black Ant's head to deflect his tail, and then launched Crow's arm, towards the scrap of cloth on his face he moved his head out of the way, but I heard the fabric tearing as the blade cut through it "Hm?" and I made sure Crow's hand clenched the fabric as soon as it was out of Sasori's sight, he turned to me and said "Since you want to live so badly, I won't finish you. I'll let the poison take it's course. But you'll wish I hadn't, your suffering will be unimaginable, but it will be over in less than 3 days" and with that he turned away from me and began moving in the direction his partner had gone. My vision was becoming blurry and I was finding it hard to keep my eyes open "Gaara" then my vision went black, but before I passed out I managed to think to myself _'Damn it! I couldn't save him, and now my only hope of Gaara being saved rests with Naruko' _and after that I knew no more of what was going on around me

Pursuit Squad Shinobi's P.O.V:

We had been running for a while now, then suddenly in the distance I saw signs of a battle, and someone unconscious in the sand, I sped up and realised it was Kankuro "Here, he's over here! He's passed out!" the other Squad members were quick to catch up with me and then one of them pointed out "Look his puppets have been destroyed!" it was then that we decided to split into 2 groups one of us would continue pursuing the enemy, the other would rush Kankuro back to the village for immediate medical attention

TO BE CONTINUED…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Team Kakashi Deployed to The Hidden Sand

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I had just finished reading Make Out Tactics for the second time, Master Jiraiya's works really are literature masterpieces, I sighed as I closed it "Brilliant, it's even better reading it a second time. Right, I guess I should get some sleep, busy day ahead of myself and the old Squad 7 tomorrow" and with that I turned off my light, but the sun was…rising? I looked out the window whilst saying "Huh it's morning already?" and I put the book down and shuffled across my bed to put my slippers on and walked to my desk to look through my papers for the unit dossier whilst saying "Oh no that's not good, I still haven't made up that Personnel list for the new Squad. That's not it, no, not that where'd I put it?"

Naruko's P.O.V:

It was a beautiful morning and I couldn't wait to go on my first mission with Team Kakashi today, I had just finished getting dressed, and I looked at myself in the mirror, to make sure everything looked ok before smiling and saying "Alright! Time to meet the rest of the team, and get started" and with that I left and headed to where I was meeting the rest of Team Kakashi

Sakura's P.O.V:

I had just finished getting ready for the day I looked at myself in the mirror and said "Lets go to work" and with that I was off to meet my Team

Sasuke's P.O.V:

I had just finished my breakfast I looked at the clock and said "Time to get started" and with that I was off to meet the others

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I was late, but it was my own fault for reading the book again suddenly I heard Naruko say "There you are! You're late!" then Sakura "Finally Sensei" and finally Sasuke "It's about time you got here" I just walked up to them rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment "Yeah um sorry about that, it took me a lot longer than I thought to uh finalise the new Squad dossier" and of course Naruko was as loud as ever when she responded "Hello! This is our first new mission as a team again, couldn't you be just a little excited? Kakashi-Sensei you really haven't changed a bit have you?" and then the other two added their opinions into the mix "Already you're annoying Naruko, shut up!" "Don't waste your breath guys, you know he's always looked unenthusiastic, like he doesn't care" I couldn't help but think _'Hmm, I don't seem to be inspiring a lot of respect here do I'_ suddenly there was the cry of a hawk "Hmm?" myself and my Squad looked up and I thought _'That looks like one of The Hidden Sands Carriers'_ suddenly Naruko spoke up "That carrier bird? Isn't that Takamaru, from The Hidden Sand?" I just nodded and said "Come on we'd better get to the mission assignment office, we don't want to keep Lord Hokage waiting" and with that we were off

Bird Handler Shinobi's P.O.V:

It was a bright and beautiful morning and I was just feeding the last of our carrier birds "Here, there you go" when from behind me came the sound of flapping wings I turned and there was a bird with a message "Hm where did you come from so early in the morning? Huh it's Takamaru, the fastest carrier bird the Hidden Sand's got" the other 2 bird handlers gasped behind me, I took the message from Takamaru and released the Sealing Jutsu on it "Release!" I pulled out the message and what I saw terrified me "Oh no!" the other handlers came over and gasped, one of them said "A Level 1 Emergency Dispatch" I turned to him and practically shouted "Go send word to the Cipher Corps at once!"

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were headed toward the mission assignment office, I hope we get a good one "Oh man it'll be so good to be on a real mission again" Sakura spoke after I had said this "But whatever kind of mission we're given just take it and don't complain about it" then Sasuke added "That's right, even if he is your Father, the last thing we need is the Hokage being mad at us, because you complained about the mission we're assigned" I just said "Don't sweat it, those days are over guys" and then Kakashi-Sensei added "I hope so Naruko, I really do" I looked at him "What they are" _'Well at least I think they are'_ suddenly we heard the sound of running footsteps, and the next thing I knew I was shoved into a wall the only thing I heard as I fell to the ground was a woman shouting "Out of the way! Out of the way!" then I heard Sakura asking "What was that?" then Sasuke was helping me up "You ok Naruko?" I answered him "Yeah, apart from my nose bleeding" then Sakura came over to us "Here Naruko, Lady Tsunade taught me Medical Ninjutsu, I'll have you fixed up in a second" and with that she healed my nose then I yelled after the woman who had shoved me "Why don't you watch where you're going! Who do you think you are shoving the Hokage's Daughter like that?!"

Kakashi's P.O.V:

_'They've called in the Cipher Corps huh, then it's true. The carrier bird we saw earlier?'_ "Alright Naruko calm down, lets just get going" and we continued on to our destination

Cipher Corps Shinobi's P.O.V:

I reached the Carrier Bird building and said to the Shinobi that were there "I heard there's a Level 1 Emergency Dispatch. Are you absolutely sure?" I was answered with "Yes, see for yourself" and the Shinobi gestured to the message, so I walked to the table that held it to see "From The Hidden Sand Village" and I released the seal "Release!" and I unravelled the scroll from behind me another of the Shinobi spoke up "The fact that they would send this to us" and the one who had answered me when I asked about the Dispatch continued "They must be in some serious trouble" I picked up the scroll and said whilst beginning to read the encrypted code "We'll find out once I decipher it"

Naruko's P.O.V:

Was Dad serious here "Huh?! Escort duty on a caravan! Come on!" he didn't sound surprised when he responded to my outburst "What? Have you got a problem with that, Naruko?" what the, didn't he know me at all I mean come on really, I keep being told I'm exactly like he was at my age, he should know me better than anyone for crying out loud "Since you're asking Dad yes I do! Lousy C-rank mission it's beneath my dignity!"

Sakura's P.O.V:

_'Here we go again, what did Sasuke and I just tell her'_

Kakashi's P.O.V

_'Calm down Naruko, because I'm the one who's going to have to take the heat if you don't'_

Minato's P.O.V:

_'Just as I expected, nothings changed'_ and I looked at Shizune out of the corner of my eye

Shizune's P.O.V:

_'Ok, ok you were right'_ and I chuckled nervously in my head, I knew I was going to pay for this later

Minato's P.O.V:

From beside me Iruka sighed before saying "Naruko, your skills may have improved, but mentally you haven't matured at all" and I couldn't help but agree with him in my head "Naruko, sweetheart, I've chosen an easier mission to start with to break you in. You've been gone from us for a while. And you haven't been on any missions since before you left with Lord Jiraiya 2 and a half years ago" and just as I expected she didn't take that well at all "Well who says I want to be broken in or want an easier mission, Daddy!"

Sasuke's P.O.V:

My eyes widened after she said this and I grabbed her in a headlock "So sorry Lord Hokage, let me talk to her I'm sure I can bring her around"

Sakura's P.O.V

Was she crazy? I thought she said she'd matured, obviously not _'You idiot, you have no idea how ferocious your Father can be, do you? Are you insane? Chaa!'_

Minato's P.O.V:

It was official, she was way too much like me and her Mother, that was obvious from the day she graduated from the Academy, it was like having Kushina here again whenever she was like this "The details of your mission are here" and I pushed the mission forward on the desk, Kakashi came forward whilst saying "Right" then I heard Naruko say "Hm, I bet if The Third Hokage was still alive, he'd be smart enough to know what he was doing when it comes to mission assignments" that got me angry "Huh?! What did you just say to me Naruko?!" Sasuke tightened his hold on her whilst saying "Just shut up will you, you knucklehead!" then the door burst open and a member of the Cipher Corps came in shouting "Lord Hokage, terrible news!" "Now what is it?" her response shocked me, a lot "A Level 1 Emergency Dispatch, addressed to your Daughter from The Sand Village" and I heard Naruko say "The Sand?" the Cipher Corps member definitely had everyone's attention "Where is this Dispatch?" she held it up whilst saying "I deciphered it for her as quickly as I could, I just need to find her so I can give it to her" then Naruko said "Well she's standing right behind you and also happens to be the girl you shoved into the wall earlier!" wait, shoved into the wall? The Cipher Corps member turned to her and bowed whilst saying "Oh, I'm so sorry ma'am!" then Naruko turned serious which was very unusual for her "Don't worry about it. If this message is as urgent as you say it is, being shoved into a wall is the last thing I should be worrying about. May I have the Dispatch please" and she handed it over saying "Yes ma'am, here it is" Naruko took it, opened it and began reading it, then she said "What the?" and her team-mates looked over her shoulders

Naruko's P.O.V:

Sakura and Sasuke had been reading the Dispatch over my shoulders, Sasuke said "Huh? It can't be" and Sakura said "No way!" I could hardly believe what I was reading myself "Impossible, there's not way that he could've been, I don't believe it" then Dad asked "Naruko, what is it? What's happened?" I looked at him, and noticed all eyes were on me "Dad it's The Kazekage of The Sand, it seems he's been taken prisoner by The Akatsuki" this caused the entire room to gasp and from beside me I heard Sasuke say "Gaara" and I realised that they were back "So they're back again huh?" Dad nodded and said "Yes we've been studying them in your absence, The Leaf knows more about The Akatsuki than any other village in The Five Great Nations" to which I responded with what was said in the Dispatch "Yeah that's true Dad, but I know more about The Akatsuki than anyone else, therefore The Sand Village has officially requested my help" Kakashi-Sensei, Dad, Iruka-Sensei and Shizune looked shocked when I said this then Dad said "Well then, I guess I have no other choice" then Shizune turned to him and said "Sir, you're not suggesting that Team Kakashi?" he closed his eyes and said "Shizune, this is urgent. I haven't got time to form another Squad, and besides we have two Shinobi in this Squad that have actually fought The Akatsuki, and they specifically sent this Dispatch to Naruko, which means that they want her, so it's best to send her Squad" Shizune looked like she wanted to argue "Yes but even so…" but Dad interrupted her and said to us "Alright, Team Kakashi I'm assigning you a new mission, you're to go to The Sand Village at once. Find out what's going on there and keep us informed, you're to remain there and follow their orders. Give them any backup they need"

Minato's P.O.V:

After I said this Team Kakashi responded with "Yes Sir!" and with that they started leaving the room to get ready "Kakashi, please wait a moment I'd like a word with you" he just nodded and sent Naruko and the others ahead "Don't worry Kakashi you're not in trouble for Naruko's earlier outburst, promise me you'll keep your eye on those three and make sure they don't do anything reckless" he nodded and said "I promise, Lord Hokage, I'll keep them in check, Naruko especially" I nodded and dismissed him

Jiraiya's P.O.V:

I was sleeping in a motel, about a days travel from the Leaf Village, when I felt something on my face, so I swatted it away and scratched my chest, then it came back so I swatted it away again, then there was a splash of cold liquid on my face so I shoved what was on my face off, I was now officially awake. I shook the liquid off of my face and looked in front of me, "Huh?" there was a frog with a scroll there, it croaked at me "Is that scroll for me? Well what are you waiting for you idiot give it to me!" and it croaked again, I took the scroll and said whilst opening it "Hm, what have we got here?" and I began reading it "The Kazekage of The Hidden Sand hm. This is no time for me to be sleeping on the job!" and with that I got dressed and headed back to The Leaf to inform Minato of the situation

Naruko's P.O.V:

After we left the mission assignment office I headed straight home to get ready, once I was done I headed to the main gate to wait for the rest of my team, it wasn't long before they arrived along with Lord Orochimaru, Lady Tsunade, Dad and Iruka-Sensei "Ok lets get moving" and I put my backpack on then Sakura said to Dad "We'll be back soon Lord Hokage. We won't let you down" he nodded while saying "Good" it was quiet for a few minutes and then Iruka-Sensei said to me "Naruko good luck" I turned to him and said "Thanks, Iruka-Sensei" and with that we were of to The Sand Village, well until Pervy-Sage dropped down in front of us

Jiraiya's P.O.V:

The main gate of the village had just come into view, when I noticed Naruko and her team heading out so I dropped down in front of them "Hey there, so off on a mission Naruko?" she saluted and said "That's right" then I said whilst walking towards Minato "Well good for you, but more importantly…" once I was in front of him I said "I've got some disturbing news, The Sand's Kazekage has been…" but he interrupted me "Yes I know" and he pointed behind me "I'm dispatching a Squad they're just about to leave" I turned to see who he meant, but all I saw was Naruko and her team, Naruko had a grin on her face and nodded to me "Mm-hm" somehow I knew my mouth was gaped open, was Minato serious here, I went up to him and whispered in his ear "You know about The Akatsuki's interest in Naruko don't you?" he looked at me and said "I had no other choice, it's an emergency situation, and they asked for Naruko specifically" well if they'd asked for her I guess I couldn't stop her but I still told him "You're running a pretty big risk Minato, I hope you know that" he just nodded then I began making my way towards Naruko

Naruko's P.O.V:

After he'd spoken to Dad, Pervy-Sage came towards me and said "Naruko, I want a word with you before you leave" I followed him with a "Mm-hm" once we were away from the others a little bit, he turned to me and said "Listen to me now, you be careful around those Akatsuki you hear" I responded with a little anger in my voice "They've all been out looking for me right, well this way they won't have to look very far!" and there was silence after I said this, then Pervy-Sage said "It's true you've come a long way Naruko, but training doesn't mean a thing if you get reckless and blow your cool. You still have a bad habit of losing your head when someone you care about is threatened, even now" I knew he was right so I grit my teeth and looked down "Ugh" then he put his hands on my shoulders and I looked up at him, then he told me with a serious tone of voice "Naruko, never use that power unless you're in Sage Mode or the Nine-Tails Cloak Mode. You know what I'm talking about, don't you" I looked down again, I knew he was referring to using the Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken outside of those Modes "Yeah I know, you don't have to remind me. I can't promise that I'll be able to keep my cool if we face The Akatsuki, but I can promise you that I'll try my best to keep a level head and try to keep my emotions and the Nine-Tails in check Pervy-Sage" he nodded at what I had said and headed towards Kakashi-Sensei

Kakashi's P.O.V:

Master Jiraiya headed towards me after he had spoken with Naruko "Kakashi, make sure that kid doesn't do anything stupid. I can trust you right?" I just nodded and said "Right" then Naruko shouted from up ahead "Kakashi-Sensei, Sasuke, Sakura come on what are we waiting for, lets move out!" and she started walking Sasuke and Sakura ran to catch up with her whilst saying "Ok, ok coming!" "You don't need to be faster than us Naruko, we're all heading to same place for the same reason you know!" I turned to Master Jiraiya "We're off" as I went to catch up with the team I heard him say "There she goes again"

Minato's P.O.V:

As we watched them leave I heard Iruka sigh beside me so I asked him "Worried Iruka?" he replied with "Worried, no not a bit, she's no longer a Rookie Shinobi who needs me to worry about her. Sasuke and Sakura too" "How is it that they grow so fast? It's a mystery" and with that Team Kakashi headed off

Naruko's P.O.V:

Once we were moving at a faster pace from the village I thought to myself _'Hang on Gaara. We're coming!'_ and with that our mission to aid The Sand Village and help them save The Kazekage began.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Kankuro poisoned, Temari informed and The Honoured Siblings

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

We were working as fast as possible to clear the rubble blocking the gate, but finding more hidden traps was making it take a lot longer than was originally anticipated. As I moved a rock from the rubble a Paper Bomb was revealed, so I yelled out "There's another Paper Bomb over here!" and 2 more Shinobi came to my side to see for themselves, one of them said "This'll blow the second it's peeled off, we're just going to have to detonate it" to which I agreed "Alright then" and the other Shinobi turned and yelled out to everyone else "We've got a Paper Bomb, drop what you're doing and find cover, now!", we attached some wire to the Bomb and moved behind some rubble that we'd already removed, so we'd be safe from the explosion as well "Ready?" "Mm" and with that the Paper Bomb was detonated

Baki's P.O.V:

The emergency Council meeting was not going well, one of the advisors was talking about appointing a new Kazekage and that didn't go well with the others, one slammed a fist onto the table and shouted "Now is not the time to be talking about a new Kazekage!" "I'm just seizing the initiative, we have to be prepared for the worst case scenario don't we?" this was not good "All that matters now is finding the Kazekage, and getting him back!" "It obvious that our priority is the safety of this village. And our forces are spread thin enough as it is" "Are you out of your mind?!" and with that the meeting was adjourned, as everyone left I heard someone say "Oh excuse me" I was looking at the village out of the window, and a Shinobi ran into the Council room "Reporting Sir. Enemy traps have been discovered in the rubble blocking the gate. We're in the process of detonating them, no casualties, but the explosions have caused a portion of the entrance to collapse. Repairs will take half a day longer than anticipated" I turned to him and responded to his report "Alright understood. I want you to see to it, that every able body we have is dispatched immediately" "Yes Sir" and with that he was gone, and I once more looked out of the window, as I watched the villagers below, I thought back to when Gaara had protected the village from that explosion _'Thanks to Gaara, The Sand Village made it through with hardly a scratch. A blessing to be sure, but it came at far to dear a price'_ and then another of our Shinobi ran in "Reporting in, we've located and verified the bodies of all the Aerial Watchmen Sir. It's almost certain the enemy infiltrated the village from above" and then there were more footsteps and a Shinobi that was keeping track of the Pursuit Corps came in "Excuse me Sir" "Yes, what is it?" and he gave his report "We've just gotten word from the Pursuit Corps, Kankuro was discovered about half a days journey from the village. He's unconscious and in bad shape" I was shocked to hear this, I guess he couldn't avoid a battle _'Kankuro'_ and then he continued "Some of the units splintered off to bring him back, along with his puppets, they're en route now" but there was one question I needed an answer to "And, what of the Kazekage?" "The rest of the Squad are still in pursuit, we should hear soon"

Deidara's P.O.V:

I had been waiting for Sasori for a while now, and finally there he was "Sasori my man, you're late hm. What gives, I thought you didn't like to keep people waiting?" "I don't. But time flies when you're having fun" his response got me a little angry "What the heck does that mean?!" he just answered with "Oh don't get so touchy. You accomplished your mission didn't you, you secured the One-Tail. Once we've wrapped things up with him, then it'll be on to my target" I stood up and mentioned to him "Yeah but, Sasori the one you're after…" "True, I still don't know where she is. It'd be easier if she'd just come to me wouldn't it" I looked to the sky at this point "Well yeah, I suppose it would. What kind of Jinchuriki is she again?" "Oh well, even if we can't find her nobody's going to complain. As long as I catch another one"

Naruko's P.O.V:

We had been heading for The Sand Village for a while now, and I was getting more anxious than ever to get there as quickly as we could, I was moving a little faster than the rest of the team "We're coming. Just hang in there Gaara" then from behind me Sasuke called out "Naruko, we know you're in a hurry but quit breaking formation, would you" I looked back at him and said to him "I know but," I was interrupted by Kakashi-Sensei "Don't lose your cool Naruko. Master Jiraiya taught you better than, that didn't he?" I just grit my teeth so I wouldn't bite his head off then I heard Sakura quietly say "Oh boy" then she looked to her right and gasped before calling out "Temari!" we looked in the same direction as Sakura, and sure enough there was Gaara's sister, so we stopped heading to The Sand so we could inform her of the situation

Sand Medical Ninja's P.O.V:

Kankuro had been rushed into the hospital as soon as the Pursuit Corps brought him in "Get him into the operating room" he was sweating and panting for breath, but none of his physical injuries explained why he was like this, he was literally sweating so much that his war-paint was coming off. One of my colleagues then asked "What is this, poison?" I turned to the others in the room and shouted "Prepare an antidote now!" as we began healing his wounds he called out the Kazekage's name twice "Gaara…Gaara" I only pray that if it is poison, that we can save him

Temari's P.O.V:

I was in shock at what Naruko's team leader Kakashi Hatake had just told me, "Gaara, you mean he's been?!" they just nodded and I looked away from them with a growl, and remembered what had happened at the teahouse _'I knew something was wrong'_ how could this have happened to my little brother, I couldn't understand it. Suddenly Kakashi said to all of us "We're 2 and a half days out from The Sand. We should hurry" I looked at him and nodded whilst saying "Right!" and with that, the five of us began heading for The Sand Village once more

Baki's P.O.V:

I couldn't believe that Kankuro was in this condition or that this had happened to him, from beside me one of the three Medical Ninja spoke up "His wounds aren't that serious. The problem is" I interrupted him "I know the poison" and he answered me with "Yes Sir" then another of them spoke up "It's one we've never seen before, we've no clue how to develop an antidote to counteract it" how could this have happened "First Gaara, and now Kankuro as well"

Naruko's P.O.V:

Night had fallen now and we were still moving, once again I got ahead of everyone else and as I passed Sasuke I heard him gasp, once I was at the front of the group I had a flashback to when I first met Itachi and Kisame,

_Flashback:_

"_Naruko is the prize that The Akatsuki is after. And make no mistake, we will have her"_

_Flashback end._

Then I had another one to when Pervy-Sage was talking to me after we'd met them

_Flashback:_

"_Don't get the wrong idea, it's not you they want, it's what's inside of you. There's no doubt in my mind that it's the Nine-Tailed Fox they're after. They might even be thinking of somehow seizing control of that power and trying to bend it to their will"_

_Flashback end._

After I was finished with those I heard Sasuke shout from behind me "Naruko, will you come on already, stop getting ahead of us!" and I shouted back so he and all the others could hear "I can't fucking take this anymore!" and I heard Temari gasp in shock at my outburst, but I continued with what I had been saying "I know why they're after Gaara and me, it's not like it's a mystery or anything. You know too, don't you Sasuke, you too Sakura?" but I didn't get a response so I just carried on "There's no point in hiding it. The spirit of the Nine-Tailed Fox is sealed away inside of me" and Temari once more gasped in shock, and I knew it was because she didn't know about that, outside of The Leaf Village, the only ones who knew about it were, Yugito, Bee, The Raikage and Gaara

Sakura's P.O.V:

After Naruko mentioned the Fox, I had a flashback to when we were kids

_Flashback:_

_I was with Mommy and one of her friends when we saw the Hokage's Daughter "Hey look, it's her" that was Mommy, what was so wrong about the Daughter of our Hokage being in the street, Mommy's friend then said "Lets get out of here" and with that we left_

_Flashback end._

Naruko's P.O.V:

I grabbed my jacket, directly over my heart and continued with what I had been saying "Gaara and I are the same, we both have monsters locked up inside of us. That's what these bastards are after, and that's the worst part about it! To them we're just monsters, all those fucking bastards see, is the means to an end!" and I had a flashback to when Gaara had come to try and kill Lee at the hospital during The Chunnin Exams

_Flashback:_

"_A Demon huh? My Demon is as real as yours is. I was born a monster"_

_Flashback end._

"Everything about us is almost exactly the same, but he had to fend for himself a lot longer than I ever did" and ever since I'd met him that was what I hated, that my life had been full of love, happiness, freedom and safety, while his had been full of hatred, anger, fear and his own Father attempting to have him killed on many occasions

Sasuke's P.O.V:

I never realised how strongly Naruko felt about this subject, I knew just from what she was saying that if we couldn't save Gaara, it might destroy her _'Naruko'_

Naruko's P.O.V:

Once again I had a flashback to that day before I continued with what I was saying

_Flashback:_

"_To them I was a relic of the past that they wished would disappear. What then was left for me in this existence if I go on living any further. For a long time I couldn't find an answer to that, but in order to live you need a purpose, to exist for no reason is the same as being dead"_

_Flashback end._

"And now he's a target of The Akatsuki, one more thing we have in common. Why should his life, be so full of misery all the time?" I clenched my fists before continuing "Why is it always him? That's why I've got to hurry. I don't have a second to waste! This time will be different, I'm going to be there to save him no matter what!" I was finding it hard to hold back my tears as I said this, but some managed to fall anyway

Temari's P.O.V:

I was saddened a little by what Naruko had revealed and said, but I was glad that Gaara had a friend that cared about him so much. Suddenly something wet hit my cheek, and my eyes widened when I realised it was a tear, Naruko was shedding tears for Gaara. I looked down and closed my eyes as I thought to myself _'Naruko Namikaze I...Thank you'_

Baki's P.O.V:

I was heading towards the hospital room Kankuro was in as I had received word that he was awake, as I walked in I noticed two Medical Shinobi were standing by his bed "He's regained consciousness you say?" they turned to me and one answered my question "That's right he has, but he's just barely able to respond to us Sir" and the other one added "His conditions worsened since yesterday" I gasped and looked at Kankuro, then he opened his eyes "B-Baki, is that you?" his voice was so quiet that it was hard to hear him "Kankuro" then he said "It was, it was him" then he groaned in pain so I told him "Please don't try to speak, you need your strength. Huh?" I barely heard him whisper "The, The Red Sand" so I leaned in to hear him better and he once more whispered what he had said. My eye widened in shock and horror "I see, so he's wrapped up in all of this" I was finding it very hard to keep my anger at what Kankuro had just told me in check one of the Medical Ninja's spoke "Lord Baki?" but instead of answering him, I left the room and began heading straight for the room where the reports from The Pursuit Corps had been received. As I opened the door one of the Shinobi looked up "Oh Lord Baki" I immediately said "Contact The Pursuit Corps now! They're to turn back immediately!" but he just said "Actually, we haven't received any word from them, since they found Kankuro" that could only mean one thing "Guess we're too late. We have no choice but to go to them" I definitely had the Shinobi in the room confused, well I think I did "Sir what is it?" I just said whilst leaving the room "Nothing, I'm going out for a bit" as the door closed I heard him shout "But!" and he followed me out of the room to continue with what he was saying to me "Sir, the higher ups are expecting a briefing in the morning" I stopped and turned to him "You think I have time to waste on reports right now? We need action not bureaucracy!" he stood to attention "Yes Sir!" then turned and went back into the room. I turned back towards the direction I was heading ad said to myself "We only lose Gaara for one day and this is what happens. I need the Council of The Honoured Siblings, though whether or not they'll come to our aid is the question"

Kakashi's P.O.V:

My eyes were on Naruko as we travelled, I hope she won't do anything reckless if we meet The Akatsuki. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke and Sakura putting food pills in their mouths so I sped up a little and said to them "You know those food pills are only for emergencies, and two Shinobi at your ages should especially careful about eating them like that" but they ignored me, bit the pills and moved so they were next to Naruko. I was confused, had I done something wrong, or did they just not want their Sensei's advice anymore now that they were both Chunnin "Are they mad at me?"

Temari's P.O.V:

I frowned when he said this and thought to myself _'You ever heard of sexual harassment, old man?'_

Naruko's P.O.V:

I was still a little ahead then the rest of the group then from beside me came Sakura's voice "Naruko?" I turned my head a little to look at her "Yeah?" what she asked me caused me to gasp "So tell me, you've met him before haven't you? Sasuke's brother Itachi Uchiha? And for some reason he's, he's after you now isn't he?" Kakashi-Sensei gasped from behind us but I didn't answer her then Sasuke spoke up from my other side "You know Naruko, it's not like Sakura and I just spent all our time training these past 2 and a half years, we both stole into our Sensei's libraries and snuck out of the village together as much as we could" and Sakura continued, it was like they were thinking the same thing "And now the one thing that Sasuke said, that bothered me more than anything else on the day we introduced ourselves when we were assigned to Kakashi-Sensei, finally makes sense" and somehow I knew we were all having the same flashback

_Flashback:_

"_What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my Clan, and destroy a certain someone"_

"_I'm the only one, who can destroy that person. I am an avenger, that means I must be stronger than my prey. I need this training there's no time for setbacks"_

_Flashback end._

After that Sakura continued with what she wanted to say "The person that you wanted to kill back then Sasuke, it was your older brother Itachi wasn't it? A member of The Akatsuki" then I had another flashback to when I'd first met Itachi Uchiha

_Flashback:_

_Sasuke had turned up "Itachi...Uchiha" what? "Itachi...Uchiha?"_

"_I hope you're ready to die. It's just as you said brother, I fostered my hatred for you all of this time. I've lived my life for one single purpose, to see you DIE! It ends here!"_

_Flashback end._

Sakura kept going "But then it turned out that he was framed for the Massacre of the Uchiha, so it's possible, that because of his connection to The Leaf, he's being used by whoever leads The Akatsuki" then Sasuke spoke up "Look, Naruko, all we're trying to say is, we can't give up. The closer we get to finding out who the holders of the Tailed-Beasts are, the closer we get to The Akatsuki, and the closer we get to them, the closer we get to bringing Itachi back to The Leaf" I nodded at this and we continued on to The Sand Village

Sasuke's P.O.V:

_'And after that, The Akatsuki who have taken Gaara and are possibly using Itachi, and who have probably tormented others for so long, and now they're after Naruko as well. This time it's our turn to save her'_

Lord Ebizo's P.O.V:

I was dropping off, when I sensed the presence of someone outside I bolted awake and said to my Sister "It seems someone is here" I turned to look at her when I got no response "Hey Sis you awake?" but still no response or movement came from her so I yelled "Hey now, can you hear me?!" still nothing from her so I screamed "AHH!" and still nothing "Are you dead?" then her fingers went slack and her fishing rod began to fall towards the pool of water we were sitting by. Just as it was about to hit her hand grabbed it causing me to scream a little bit "Fell for that one didn't you? I was just playing possum" and she began laughing like a mad woman "Cut it out Sis, that was way too real, honestly" then there were footsteps "Hm?" I looked and saw it was Baki, then sis and I returned our attention back to the pool "Honoured Siblings, I have come here to request your assistance. We need you" sis recast her fishing line then said "Dusty Ancient Texts, should be bundled together and stowed away on a high shelf. Oh what could we possibly do now?" and he told us the reason why he was here "An organization called The Akatsuki has the Shukaku. Failing to act now only invites disaster" I said to him then "This is your generation now. You'll just have to deal with it on your own" but he continued without showing signs of giving up it appeared he desperately wanted our help "You two have maintained powerful channels across The Five Great Nations. Including special routes through allied lands, there's only so much intelligence that we can gather on our own" sis chuckled and said "We've been retired for ages now, we left behind out attachments to this world long ago. Although I guess it would be nice to see my Grandsons face one more time" to which Baki replied with "This could work out in your favour then" and we both responded with "Hm?" I don't know about sis but he had my attention "It just so happens, that your Grandson is a member of The Akatsuki" sis frowned and snapped her head in his direction, my eyes widened and the water in the pool rippled as if a large stone had been dropped into it "Lady Chiyo" _'So, Sasori, is involved with this. Sis will definitely be interested now'_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Searching for a cure, the sealing begins and arrival at The Sand Village

Sand Medical Shinobi's P.O.V:

There were four of us standing outside of Treatment Room 3, discussing the situation with Kankuro, when we heard footsteps approaching, so I turned to look down the hallway "Huh?" there were two elders walking towards us, one of my fellow Medical Shinobi asked out-loud "Who are they?" and one of the younger Shinobi of our group answered him "What you really don't know? That's Lady Chiyo and her brother Ebizo" and I responded to him with "I thought, I thought they retired years ago" as they walked past us we bowed our heads in respect for them, it was then I noticed that they were heading for Kankuro's Room.

Lord Baki's P.O.V:

I heard footsteps approaching Kankuro's room, then they stopped at the entrance, I turned and was surprised to see The Honoured Siblings there "Uh, we were hoping you'd come, please come in." as they entered I said to the Medical Shinobi that were with me "I'm sure you know our visitors, Lady Chiyo and Lord Ebizo" they both bowed whilst saying "Welcome" Lady Chiyo stood beside me, and Lord Ebizo stood with his back to the window, at the head of Kankuro's bed. He looked at him for a little while before saying "Hmm, why that looks very much like" but I interrupted him "Yes, it's Kankuro. Older Brother of The Kazekage" he looked up at me and responded with "Oh, so I was right then". Lady Chiyo was silent, just looking at Kankuro, then she addressed the Medical Shinobi "Hmm, I assume you've examined his blood?" the Shinobi that answered her question said whilst handing her Kankuro's Chart "Yes, here are the results" she took it, and examined it whilst saying "Fascinating, I've never seen this" I already knew, what his chart said about the poison, so I didn't bother looking at it. Then the same Shinobi that had handed her the chart said to her "Yes. We believe it's a new poison" Lady Chiyo looked up from the chart and asked him "Hmm. Any luck finding an antidote?" he shook his head whilst saying "We've tried everything we have. But so far nothings had any noticeable effect", Lady Chiyo once more looked at Kankuro, and her eyes never left him as she said "Of course not. It explains why he's let him linger this way, instead of killing him right off. He's confident we won't be able to counteract his poison. To make a man suffer like this, how typical of Sasori that is" after hearing her say this I thought to myself _'Seeing as she obviously knows her Grandson better than we do, I pray that Lady Chiyo, can find the antidote to this poison'_.

Deidara's P.O.V:

We were finally at the edge of the desert, now all we had to do was get to our hideout, in The Land of Rivers and seal The One-Tail, it had been to quiet, so I said to my man Sasori as my clay bird flew ahead of us, and looking at the Jinchuriki "It feels good to be leaving The Sand behind, hm" it was silent for a few seconds before he said in response "Keep moving, I don't like keeping people waiting" I turned my head so I was looking at him and said with a slight chuckle in my voice "Yeah right, you're one to complain. Who's fault is it that it all took so long anyway? Hm" he just responded by saying "We're both to blame for that" and I couldn't help but agree "That's true, I suppose" and we kept going.

Lord Baki's P.O.V:

Lady Chiyo had been trying to create an antidote for the last two hours, but she had been unsuccessful "Now" she was about to try another one. She poured the antidote she had made, onto the sample of Kankuro's blood that had been provided by the Medical Shinobi, which had been placed on a sealing scroll, just like the others. The result, was a pillar of flame erupting from the scroll, causing us all to gasp and shield our eyes from the light, once it had cleared I saw that there had once more, been no change in the sample and Lady Chiyo voiced this fact "Hmm, that one didn't work either". It was at this point, that Lord Ebizo asked me "Tell us, what other methods have you already tried?" I turned to him, and gave him my response "As a matter of fact, we've asked for a specialist to be sent from The Leaf Village. Perhaps it would be best to wait for them to arrive" then Lady Chiyo spoke to me, and it was clear she wasn't happy that I had asked The Leaf for help, as it was well known that she still held a grudge against them, for the death of her Son at the hands of The White Fang of The Leaf, during The Great War "Hm, you would have us depend on others? It's because of your dependence on this alliance with a foreign land, that our own people have become backward and lazy" what, she thought I'd asked for aid from The Leaf Village…because we depended on them to fix all our problems for us? So I turned to her and said "No we don't depend on them. I surely wouldn't go that far" then Lord Ebizo added his opinion. Whilst looking at Kankuro he said, "Kankuro's partly to blame. By pursuing the enemy too far, he recklessly exposed himself to danger. Something a Shinobi should never do" this caused myself, and the two Medical Shinobi in the room to gasp in shock, then Lady Chiyo spoke again "Instead of trusting and depending on The Leaf to come too our rescue, we should concentrate on training our own people to take care of themselves. In any case this alliance is just a pipe dream, they are they, and we are we. And no alliance will change that" what she said next shocked me to my very core "Ha, if they send anyone at all it won't be a specialist, but some useless underling just as a simple formality" there was no way, so I said to her "I can't believe they'd ever do that" and she just responded with "It's the way of the world, everyone only looks out for themselves" after she said this I thought to myself _'No, Naruko would never let that happen. You're wrong, Lady Chiyo. Naruko Namikaze will prove it to you'_.

Naruko's P.O.V:

We had stopped to rest for a bit, but I was so worried about Gaara, that I couldn't rest, so I ran up a tree, and stood on one of the branches staring ahead of me in the direction of The Sand Village. I heard movement from behind me, but I didn't look to see who was ready to move again, then I heard Kakashi-Sensei's voice as he said to the others "Alright, break-time's over" then I heard Sakura ask him "Hey, Kakashi-Sensei where's Naruko?" and when he answered her I had a feeling he was pointing at me "Right up there" I heard the others gasping and heard movements against the trees, which could only mean they were all looking at me now, as the sun began to rise and the others began to get ready to move again, I thought to myself _'One more day until we reach The Sand Village. We have to hurry'_ then Kakashi-Sensei yelled out "Ok, lets get moving!" so I jumped from the branch I was standing on, once on the ground I grabbed my pack whilst saying "Right!" and with that we were on the move again.

Lady Chiyo's P.O.V:

Kankuro's breathing was getting faster, it was almost like he was fighting just to be able to get some air into his lungs, I was feeling his pulse and what I felt wasn't a good sign. "This is not good. Poisons are my specialty, but this ones beyond even me" it was Baki who responded to what I had said he just asked my name in a questioning tone "Uh, Lady Chiyo?" I knew what I was going to say next would shock him "He has a day at best" and I was right as he gasped in horror, then Ebizo added "Actually from the looks of it, he'll be extremely lucky to survive until tomorrow, if you ask me" that was just like my Brother, making the situation more grim. I continued with my thoughts on the matter "Sasori's outdone himself this time. His skills have improved considerably" and Baki then asked "Surely we can do something?" and the next words that came out of my mouth made me feel sick "Well, there's one who's more versed in antidotes than I. That old Queen of Slugs, Tsunade of The Leaf. She was a thorn in my side during the era of The Great War, coming up with antidotes for every kind of poison I could throw at her. Who knows, now that we're such great friends with them, perhaps we could send word to her, to come help us with her expertise" and once more it was Baki that answered me and I'll admit what he said shocked me a little bit "But Lady Tsunade is now the head of The Leaf's Medical Corps, she's responsible for training all the new Leaf Medical Shinobi, she can't just drop everything. Besides even if she were to come, what good could she do? It takes three days to travel here from The Leaf" and I turned to him whilst saying "I know that, I'm not a fool. I wasn't seriously suggesting we summon her here. That'd be the last thing I want, I can't bear that old Slug Queen" although, it was nice to know she had returned to her village, and stayed there.

Minato's P.O.V:

I was going over the daily reports from the village, when Lady Tsunade sneezed, I looked at her and asked "Lady Tsunade, are you alright?" she looked at me and said "I'm fine" Shizune was also in the room as she had brought us both some tea, she mentioned to her, as she set her tea down "There's a very bad cold going around the village, you really should be careful Milady" Tsunade looked at her and said "I will" after that I dismissed Shizune for the moment, once she left I thought to myself _'Team Kakashi left two days ago. If all goes well they should be there tomorrow morning'_ I decided to head out and get something to eat so I said to Tsunade "I'm going to grab a bite to eat, do you want anything Tsunade?" she just shook her head no, but she thanked me for offering, so with that I began to leave, then I remembered something so I turned to Tsunade and said "Oh, before I forget, whilst I'm gone could you send a Back-Up Squad to aid Team Kakashi on their mission" she looked at me and nodded whilst saying "Of course, Lord Hokage" and with that I left.

Lady Tsunade's P.O.V:

After Minato left, I reached for my cup of tea, as I did the cup cracked causing me to gasp in shock "That's a bad sign. Don't tell me" and I reached into the drawer of my desk, and rummaged around for what I was looking for. Once I found it I slammed it on my desk, it was my lottery ticket _'Group 3, number 117037. I knew it, I won, and first prize too. Definitely a bad omen'_ after that I yelled for Shizune "Shizune! Shizune get in here!" something must be very wrong, I was getting a bad feeling

Naruko's P.O.V:

We had just reached the edge of the forest, and all I could see was sand, finally we were at the desert, finally we were almost there. I couldn't help but say to everyone "Alright, we finally reached the desert" Temari, walked to the front of our group and turned to face us whilst saying "The Village Hidden in The Sand is just up ahead." a smile appeared on my face after she sad this, we were almost there, and the sooner we got there, the sooner we could find out what was going on and save Gaara. Temari turned to Kakashi-Sensei and said "It's best if I take the lead from here on out" he responded with "Lead on" and I noticed a smile appear on Temari's face. It was then that I decided to send a message to The Sand Village via a messenger toad, as I summoned one of the toads Sasuke asked me "What are you doing, Naruko?" I replied as I wrote and sealed the message to the toad I had summoned "I'm sending a message to Baki, informing him that our Squad will be at The Sand Village tomorrow" then I heard Kakashi-Sensei say "That's a good idea, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that" after that I said to the toad "Get this message to The Sand Village, immediately" and with that he was gone, and we began to move, with Temari leading the way.

Deidara's P.O.V:

There it was the entrance to our hideout, finally we could begin "At last, we're here. Hm" it was quiet for a few seconds before Sasori responded to what I had said with "Lets go" with that we jumped from the cliff we were standing on, onto the surface of the river that flowed directly past the entrance to our hideout. Once we stood directly before the entrance, I held up the hand on which I wore my ring, and focused my Chakra. The Five Seal Barrier tag glowed in response to this, and finally the boulder that concealed the entrance to our hideout lifted, once it had fully risen out of the water myself, Sasori and my clay bird entered. Once inside I noticed our leader was already there, he turned to us and said "You're Late. We must get ready at once" my clay bird landed, and as it did I explained why we were late "The Jinchuriki proved more powerful than we expected" and the boulder lowered back into the water, once more concealing our hideout from view. My clay bird placed the Jinchuriki on the ground then I dispelled it, and our leader performed The Summoning Jutsu, and the statue, that during the time of The Sage of the Six Paths, had been The Ten-Tails, the being of which the Nine Tailed-Beasts had once been joined to, rose from the ground. Once it had fully risen up our leader summoned everyone else "Now, let everyone gather." and all of our members appeared on the fingers of the Ten-Tails' hands, and myself and Sasori joined them, once we joined everyone our leader said "Alright, shall we begin?" time to get started.

Lord Baki's P.O.V:

One of the Shinobi that had been dispatched to help remove the debris from the enemies trap was reporting to me in the room where he had set up, for reports from the Squad that had gone after Kankuro "We'll soon be done removing the traps and debris, from the road Sir" that was excellent to hear "Good work" and his report continued "We've managed to recover the remains of all of our casualties, but there's one concern" huh, a concern? What was he talking about "What's that?" his response shocked me to the core "We haven't been able to find Captain Yura" impossible "What?!" and he continued once again "There's no doubt to any of us that he was headed for the road right before the incident. But there's no trace of him, not a scrap of clothing, nothing" I stood from my seat whilst saying "Yes, that is strange. Perhaps you just haven't found him yet. Or perhaps he managed to survive the trap, and is right now in pursuit of the enemy. I could quickly put together a Back-Up Squad and send them after him, but, without knowing where he is..." Something was definitely wrong here. No sign of Captain Yura, when all reports say he was heading in that direction, just before the attack happened. What is going on here?. Suddenly another Sand Shinobi ran in "Pardon the intrusion Sir, we've just received a message from Naruko Namikaze of The Leaf, her Squad is about a days journey from the village, they'll be here tomorrow" I sighed in relief, "That is good news, thank you" and with that he left _'I knew we could count on Naruko. It looks like sending the Emergency Dispatch directly to her, was the right thing to do after all'_.

Lady Tsunade's P.O.V:

I was looking out over the village when Shizune came in and asked "Lady Tsunade, did you call me?" I turned to her and said "Yes. We have to send reinforcements to The Sand Village at once. Orders from Lord Hokage" she looked puzzled "Reinforcements?" I just told her "There's one team that must be done with their mission by now. They'll be on their way back" she blinked before saying "Oh, do you mean? Ah, yes Milady, I'll see to it" and with that she left, once she did I looked down at my lottery ticket and said to myself "We have to be ready for the worst case scenario"

Akatsuki Leaders P.O.V:

I had joined the other Akatsuki Members on the hands of the Ten-Tails, I said to them all "It will now take three days and nights. Stay aware of your physical selves." then I said to Zetsu "Zetsu, have your physical body stand guard outside. Use the one with the greatest range, understood" he just responded with "I know" then Kisame spoke up "Only three days? Isn't it possible that it might take longer than that, since we only have nine members?" to which I responded with "All the more reason, to get started at once" and Itachi agreed with me "That's true" Kisame agreed with him "Indeed" and then Deidara added "Sounds good to me, hm" all of us focused our Chakra, and the symbols on our rings appeared on the fingers of the Ten-Tails, and with that I activated the Jutsu "Sealing Jutsu: Nine Phantom Dragons!" and with that the sealing of the One-Tail began.

Lady Tsunade's P.O.V:

Shizune had just burst into the room "Lady Tsunade, you were right, they're back from their mission" I turned to her and said "Excellent" and with that, we both left the room. Shizune was walking ahead of me a little bit as we walked down the corridor, but I veered off to go into the room on our right, as I did Shizune called out to me "Uh? Wait, Lady Tsunade" but I ignored her and walked into the room whilst saying "The Hokage's got an S-rank mission for this Squad!" only to find it wasn't the Squad I was expecting, but Ebisu's Gennin Squad instead…they all turned to me and looked at me in disbelief then Konohamaru and his team all began speaking "Huh?" "Really?" "An S-rank..." "Mission?" then Ebisu spoke up "You're joking?" what the hell, where was the Squad that I asked for? "You hear that? We're getting an S-rank mission!" the brats were still talking "I don't believe it" Konohamaru was jumping up and down in excitement "Finally our talents are being recognised. I knew it would happen!" then Ebisu asked me directly "You can't be serious, Lady Tsunade? Achoo!" he must have the cold that's been going around, either that or he's been…"You feel ok, Ebisu-Sensei?" he rubbed his nose as he replied to Moegi "Just spent a little too much time, soaking in the hot spring that's all" then Udon said "Too much time spying on pretty girls, you mean" was this village just producing closet perverts now? Konohamaru then shouted at his Sensei "This is our first shot at an S-rank mission. So don't you go blowing it for us, by getting a cold on account of your pervy habits!" now I was really confused "What the hells going on?" then from behind me came Shizune's voice saying "Wrong room milady, it's over this way" I turned and walked out of the room whilst saying "Well, I should hope so" then Shizune said to me "I tried to tell you before you went in" but I ignored her, as I closed the door I heard Ebisu and his Squad talking "Huh?" "What about our S-rank mission?" Ebisu sounded relieved when he said "It was all a mistake. Thank goodness". Once we left the corridor I asked Shizune where the Squad I had asked for was, she told me they were at the main gate, so we made our way there.

Gai's P.O.V:

We were waiting at the main gate for Lady Tsunade or The Hokage to brief us on our mission, just as I thought this Lady Tsunade and Shizune turned up, she briefed us on the situation so that we could understand our mission better before saying "You're being assigned, essentially the same mission as Team Kakashi. Get to The Sand Village as fast as possible, and provide any support necessary. Is that clear?" and I immediately answered her with a thumbs up "Crystal!" then Lee responded "Ready Lady Tsunade" then Tenten "Leave it to us" and finally Neji "We're on it" and Lady Tsunade just nodded and said "Good". I looked at my team with a smile before turning my attention back to Lady Tsunade and saying "Team Gai, is always ready for action. Achoo!" then Tsunade asked me "You have a cold?" I immediately denied it as I didn't want to be taken off of the mission "No, no just my allergies acting up, that's all. Don't worry we'll make it to The Sand in one day" and Lee added after me "I think we can make it in half a day Sensei" then of course Neji and Tenten said after us "It will take three days. No matter how you slice it" "Yeah, what's the point of making promises we cant keep, huh?" I just looked at them and said "We won't know until we try, will we? Forward everyone, with the speed of youth!" and Lee was the first to follow "Lead on Sensei" as we headed out of the village I heard Tenten say "It's so embarrassing" and Neji just said to her "They are, who they are Tenten" and I heard them begin to follow us, then I faintly hear Lady Tsunade say "They're still as enthusiastic as ever, I see" and Shizune laughed. As we left the village behind us I heard my three students talking amongst themselves "It'll be interesting to see how much Naruko has grown in her skills as a Shinobi" "I am curious to see how much stronger she has become, thanks to her training with Master Jiraiya" "Same here, you guys" and I can admit, I was looking forward to seeing the strength of our Hokage's Daughter as well.

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were halfway through the desert, when a damn sandstorm hit, so now we were sheltering in a cave, I was getting angry now, it seemed like even nature was against us getting there in three days "We got this close to our target, and we're just sitting here! I can't stand this waiting!" I felt a hand grab my shoulder as I moved to go out of the cave we were sheltering in, then Kakashi-Sensei's voice came from behind me "Naruko, for the last time relax! There's nothing we can do, until this sandstorm passes!" I looked at him and said "I know but," but I was interrupted by Sakura "Just be patient. Would you look at Temari, she's the one who's worried the most" then Sasuke agreed with her "Sakura's right, Naruko. Just try and stay calm, the worst thing you could do right now is lose your cool" then Temari spoke to me, and I was surprised that her voice was so calm "The cardinal rule of travelling in the desert, if you hit a sandstorm you stay put. You lose all your sense of direction in a storm like that. I've heard of many people who ended up lost in the desert and dying of thirst. Don't worry, the sandstorms we get at this time of year usually don't last very long" I looked away from her, and back to the desert whilst saying "Well, I just hope you're right, Temari"

Lord Ebizo's P.O.V:

Kankuro was screaming, and crying out in pain, from beside myself and Sis I heard Baki quietly say his name "Kankuro", the Medical Shinobi in the room with us were by his side, one of them was holding Kankuro down by the shoulders as he turned to the other and said to him "Quick, the sedative" he nodded and said "Right", he swabbed the area on Kankuro's arm that he would inject the sedative into to disinfect it, then inserted the syringe and injected the sedative, as it began to take effect the Shinobi that was holding him still said to the three of us "As you can see, all we're able to do is ease his pain and try to help him rest. At this stage our only hope is the Squad of Leaf Shinobi, who are due to arrive tomorrow." finally Kankuro was calm again and resting peacefully so he let go of him before continuing "That is if Kankuro can survive until then, and if they brought an experienced poison specialist along with them" then Baki spoke up "Right now there's a sandstorm in the desert, making the route from The Leaf impassable. There's no telling how long they might be delayed, if it keeps up" the situation was beginning to look grim, the same Medical Shinobi said to us whilst he and his partner looked at Kankuro "If that happens, then all hope is lost" then Sis spoke and she sounded like she was about to burst into tears "That we've sunk too this, I never thought I'd see the day when we'd have to depend on The Leaf to help us" I knew she must be tired, she needed to rest, so I decided to take her into the hallway "You must be weary my Sister. Come, we'll find a seat outside. You haven't had a wink of sleep since yesterday" as we left she said "Relying on The Leaf, it's pathetic" once we were outside I helped her sit down "Hey Sis?" but there was no response "Huh, asleep" I hope that these Leaf Shinobi get here in time to save Kankuro.

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

It was morning, and the sun had not long risen. Myself and one of the Shinobi that had brought back Kankuro, were standing at the main gate of the village facing the desert, there was no sign of Lady Namikaze or her Squad yet, I turned to my comrade and said "If Lady Namikaze and her Squad left The Leaf once they got word of the situation, and moved quickly, they could be here any minute" he just looked at me and said in response "Don't count on it. Even one of our own people would've had a hard time with that sandstorm" then I noticed something on the horizon "Look, over there!" he followed my line of sight, and there running towards the village, was Naruko Namikaze and her Squad, and the two of us gasped in relief. Once they reached us I said to her "Lady Namikaze, we've been expecting you. Thank you for coming so quickly" and then I noticed Lady Temari was with them, and my comrade said "Lady Temari, you were with them?" I gestured for them to follow us "Please, this way, we'll explain everything on the way to Lord Baki". As we ran through the village towards the hospital, I informed Lady Temari of the situation with her Brother, Lord Kankuro. She turned to me and said "What? You say they got Kankuro as well?" I responded with "Yes. When the enemy took Lord Kazekage, Kankuro went after them by himself. He was poisoned, and we haven't been to find anything to counteract it. He won't last much longer" and we kept running as she looked forward "Damn it!" then Lady Namikaze's female team-mate spoke up "Don't give up yet, Temari. Let me take a look at him" and it was at this point we entered the hospital, "You'll find Lord Baki with Lord Kankuro, in Treatment Room 3" and with that they were gone. _'Thank goodness they managed to get here in time, if they'd of arrived any later, it definitely would've been too late for Kankuro'_.

Lady Chiyo's P.O.V:

We were all just looking at Kankuro, time was running out. Suddenly we heard footsteps running towards the treatment room, then from behind us came the voice of Temari, yelling her Brothers name "Kankuro!" we turned and she ran in with a pink-haired young woman, who must have been one of the Shinobi from the Leaf Squad, then another young woman with blonde hair, and a young man with dark hair ran in, the blonde woman yelled out "Kankuro! Lord Baki" and I heard him gasp and say "Lady Namikaze, thank goodness you're here" he walked up to her and shook her hand and she said in response, "We left as soon as I received your Emergency Dispatch, after it was deciphered. What's the latest information you have on the situation?" so this was the Daughter of The Leaf's Yellow Flash, The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, I could definitely see the resemblance now that I knew who she was. Just as I thought this, another Leaf Shinobi with grey hair ran in, and I froze whilst thinking _'Him! The White Fang of The Leaf!'_, how dare he come here, I was so enraged that I ran at him without thinking and yelled "Damn you! Get ready to defend yourself or die!" and he had the nerve, to look shocked that I was about to attack him.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Kankuro cured and his request

Naruko's P.O.V:

What the heck, Kakashi-Sensei walks into the room, and this old lady goes to attack him, for no apparent reason. She leapt in to the air, and made to attack him whilst shouting "Revenge at last!" Kakashi-Sensei was standing in between me and Sasuke, all he said was "Huh?" he sounded just as confused as I felt. He didn't make any move to defend himself, so Sasuke and I did. Sasuke stood in front of Kakashi-Sensei, and I moved to deflect the woman whilst performing the Shadow Clone Jutsu, two Clones appeared on my left and right and we managed to stop her, but she was able to dispel the Clone on my right, as she moved away from us, everyone else in the room except Kankuro for obvious reasons gasped in shock. From behind me I heard Sasuke say "What do you think you're doing, attacking Kakashi-Sensei like that?" and my remaining clone added "You wrinkly old prune!" my eyes widened at that and as it dispelled I couldn't help but think to myself _'She may be old, but she's good'_ then I heard Lord Baki say from beside me "Lady Chiyo, what do you think you're doing? I will not allow you to attack these Leaf Shinobi!" but she ignored him, and spoke to Kakashi-Sensei, her face held so much anger that she looked a little frightening.

Lady Chiyo's P.O.V:

Even though I was furious that this man was here, I was impressed by how quickly the Namikaze girl and her male team-mate had reacted, I looked to their Sensei and shouted to him "I haven't forgotten what you did. I've waited for this day White Fang of The Leaf. The day I reek vengeance on you for what you did to my Son!" he put his hands up and said "No, no, no, you see I'm not..." But I interrupted him, I didn't want to hear his excuses "That's enough talk" but as I got ready to attack him again, my Brother got in my way and put his hand up, to stop me. Then he said whilst looking at the target of my anger "Take a closer look at the man, Sis" so I did whilst saying "Huh?" and Ebizo continued "It's true that there's a resemblance, but this one is not The White Fang. If you'd calm down for a moment you would realise, that the boy called him Kakashi-Sensei, not Sakumo-Sensei, which he would have if this was indeed The White Fang" well that was true I guess, the man just nervously chuckled, and said in a slightly high-pitched voice, whilst waving "Hello" and once more Ebizo spoke "Besides, as you know The White Fang of The Leaf died long ago" and I realised I had jumped to conclusions, just because of the resemblance "Remember, when you heard the news you wept in frustration, because it meant you would never have your vengeance." he turned to face me and added "Isn't that so Sis?" so I relaxed and said "Oh well, never mind" and then I burst out laughing to try and ease the tension in the room, that I had caused and Ebizo and the Leaf Shinobi along with Baki looked at me like I was crazy.

Sakura's P.O.V:

What the, one moment this Sand Elder is trying to attack Kakashi-Sensei, then she's…laughing her head off, like some mad woman, I'll never understand old people. Suddenly Kankuro began screaming in pain, when I looked back at him, he was grasping his throat, it was at this point that Baki left Naruko's side and ran up to Kankuro's bed whilst shouting his name "Kankuro!" then I went straight into action. I said to Baki as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail "Here, let me take a look at him" and Temari said "Yes, please" just before I began my examination on Kankuro I turned to the rest of my team, and the Sand Elders and said "Listen it might help if you all clear out, and give us some room" Kakashi-Sensei nodded, and Naruko and Sasuke said "You got it Sakura" "No problem, let us know if you'll need our help at all" and the three of them turned and left, as the Elders were leaving I noticed the woman turned to look at me, she gave me a small glare before leaving as well. I started my examination of Kankuro, by looking at his eyes, they looked fine, but I used my torch to check that his pupils were responsive, which they were but not much, the next step was to check the back of his throat. As I was checking his throat, and making sure his saliva wasn't what had been causing him to grasp his throat earlier, one of the Medical Shinobi in the room asked "What are you?…Who are you?" I turned to him and said in reply "I'm a Leaf Village Medical Ninja"

Lord Baki's P.O.V:

Myself, Temari and the Medical Shinobi were watching Sakura's examination of Kankuro with baited breath. After she had checked his eyes and throat, she laid her head on his chest to listen to his heart, she frowned for a moment before standing up and saying "We're definitely dealing with a heavy metal based toxin. The kind that attacks muscle tissue, destroying the cells integrity" this had us all gasping in surprise and one of the Medical Shinobi then said "You were able to learn all that," and the other one finished the sentence "In one look" and they looked at each other in shock, at her quick diagnosis. She then addressed them both "May I please see his chart?" and one of them responded with "Yes of course. here it is, we were getting a breakdown of the poison. But there are still quite a few blanks" and he held out the chart for her, as Sakura took it, she said whilst reading his chart and what we had uncovered of the poison so far "I know just what'll happen. The cardiac muscle will be weakened, to the point where the heart will collapse, and cease functioning altogether. It's doubtful we'll be able to come up with an antidote in time" was she saying that it was too late to save him?. Then Temari spoke "What are you saying Sakura? There's nothing you can do?!" Sakura looked at her, then looked down with her eyes closed, before opening them and once more addressing both of the Medical Shinobi "I'm gonna need a few things, and I'll need them quickly" the Medics stood to attention and simultaneously said "Right" and Sakura continued "It's gonna be pretty crude but, it's the only option we have at this point" and she looked down at Kankuro.

Sakura's P.O.V:

Just looking at Kankuro, I knew I would need Naruko's help to keep him still, so I turned towards the hall, looked at her and said "Naruko, I might need your help in here. Could you come and stand beside me, just in case?" she nodded and got up whilst saying "Got it Sakura. Just let me know if, and when you need me" she rolled up her sleeves as she entered the treatment room, then moved to my right side, and stood ready for my directions, should I need her assistance. I looked at everyone before turning to the bowl of medical solution that was on my left, The Sand Medical Shinobi had been quick to make sure everything I would need, was ready and on hand in the room. I placed my right hand into the solution, and focused my Chakra into my hand, before I lifted the solution from the bowl I said to everyone "Hold him down, and don't let him move. This part of the procedure isn't gonna be easy on him" Temari walked to the head of the bed whilst saying "Alright" and everyone held onto Kankuro. I lifted the solution from the bowl, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I moved my hand to where I would start the extraction of the poison. Once I was ready, I said to everyone "Here goes" and I began the procedure, as soon as I did Kankuro screamed in pain, and sat up trying to get away from us once we got him laid down on the bed again I shouted "Hold him down! Naruko give us a hand holding him still!" and immediately everyone shouted "Right!" and held onto him a little stronger. As I continued I thought the process to myself _'I've gotta pour my Chakra in to his body. Purge the toxin from his cells, and force it to the surface. Draw it in to the solution, and extract it!'_ once done I extracted the solution which now held the poison that had been in his heart, out from the initial wound. I heard Baki and the Medical Shinobi gasp in surprise, and Temari asked me "What's that? Is that the poison?" it was Naruko that replied to her "I think so, Temari" once all of the solution was fully extracted I held it up and said "That's it!", I held it over the bowl once more, and unfocused my Chakra causing it to drop back in. I turned to the Medical Shinobi and shouted "Another! Quickly please!" and one of them moved to the area where the solution was made whilst saying "Right!" as the other wiped my face to get rid of my sweat. The used solution was quickly replaced with a new one, and once more I began purging the poison from Kankuro's body.

Sasuke's P.O.V:

As we watched what was happening in the treatment room, a question popped into my head, who exactly is this White Fang of The Leaf? I'd never heard of him before, so I decided to ask Kakashi-Sensei. "Hey, Kakashi-Sensei," he was reading his book so he only hummed in response, so I continued my question whilst turning to look at him "who is this, White Fang of The Leaf, that made the old woman so angry? Have you got any idea?" after I asked my question, I heard the old woman say "Huh?". Sensei looked at me and said, whilst closing his book "Well, that's a tricky one. How to put it? Well you see, Sasuke, he was, well in a word...he was my Father" that threw me for a loop _'I definitely wasn't expecting that!'_ "Seriously?" and he just nodded, then from beside me the woman said "Y-you there, you're the Son of The White Fang?" I looked at her after she said this, her face was one of shock and she was pointing at Kakashi-Sensei, and he answered her question causing me to look at him again. "Yeah, I am" he was rubbing the back of his head, then the old man said "So that's it. That explains why you look like him" and Sensei chuckled nervously, I just gave him a questioning look, before I turned my attention back to what was going on in the room in front of us.

Sakura's P.O.V:

It was midday now, and I had just removed the poison from Kankuro's lungs and intestines, once more when I needed a new batch of the solution I yelled "Another!" and got the same response "Right!", there wasn't much of the poison left, to be removed from his organs. About five minutes later I was finished treating him, I wiped my forehead and sighed in relief before saying to everyone that was in the room with me "I removed most of the poison. I believe that ought to put him out of any immediate danger for now" and they all sighed in relief, I felt a hand on my shoulder so I looked to see who it was, it was Naruko, she smiled at me and said "Way to go, Sakura!. Good job" then I saw Temari lean against the wall, she slid down to the floor breathing heavily, then she put her hand on her heart and sighed. I then told everyone "But he's not completely out of the woods yet. Now then I have to quickly put together an antidote for the traces of toxin still remaining in his body" out of the corner of my eye, I saw the old woman approach Kankuro's bed, Baki then responded to what I had said "I see. Anything you need Sakura, don't hesitate to ask" I looked at the nearest of The Sand's Medical Shinobi, before saying "Well, first I'll need a list of all the medicinal herbs, that you have in the village." and he immediately said "Yes, at once" and went to get the list, then I turned to the one standing beside me "And we should change these bandages for new ones." he nodded whilst saying "Yes Ma'am" and he began changing them, I turned to Medical Shinobi standing opposite me "I'll need an I.V Drip set-up, stat." he nodded and said "Got it" then I turned to the one who was getting me the list and said "Oh and be sure to set aside a small amount of the toxin I extracted. I'll be needing it later" and with that everyone went to work.

Sasuke and Naruko's P.O.V:

_'Sakura, you're so cool and calm'_

Lady Chiyo's P.O.V:

Seeing how quickly this young woman had identified the poison, I couldn't help but be reminded of Tsunade. As she took her hair down I said to her "You remind me of that old Slug Queen, Tsunade. Isn't it strange, you turning up in our village like this?" and as she re-tied her headband, she turned to me with a smile and said "Well, after all, Lady Tsunade is my teacher. And it was by order of The Hokage, that I came here with my Squad" so that was why she reminded me of her, this girl was her student. One of our Medical Shinobi then approached her saying "Here's that list of medicinal herbs" the girl turned to him and said whilst taking the list "Good, thank you very much. And thank you for your help during the procedure" she turned to the other two Medical Shinobi and said "To the both of you as well, thank you." and they both nodded with smiles on their faces, before once more focusing on their tasks. As she opened the list of medicinal herbs, Ebizo came up beside me and said "Keep in mind Sister, that the river of time keeps flowing right by us." And I couldn't help but smile, maybe it was time to pass the reins onto the next generation.

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

We had just received the word that one of The Leaf Shinobi had managed to save Kankuro, I was with one of my comrades feeding all of our carrier birds. Suddenly there was the sound of flapping wings, so I looked up and saw that Takamaru had returned. And it looked like he had a message from The Leaf, my comrade said "It's Takamaru. He's back" I quickly removed and unsealed the message, before summoning a member of our own Cipher Corps to decrypt it.

Naruko's P.O.V:

Baki, Kakashi-Sensei and myself were in the hallway outside Kankuro's room, Baki was about to debrief us on the situation, but before he could start a Sand Shinobi approached him saying "Lord Baki, a reply from The Leaf Village" that was fast. Baki took it whilst saying "Thank you" and the Shinobi that delivered it left, Baki read it before holding the message out to Kakashi-Sensei and saying "It's from your Hokage" as he took it and began to read it I asked him "From Dad? What'd he say, Kakashi-Sensei?" he turned to me and said, "He says that Team Gai, is on it's way here to back us up" so Dad had sent a Back-Up Squad. I was a little surprised that he had sent the Squad that we worked quite well with, "Neji, Lee and Tenten's Squad? I can't wait to see how much stronger they've become" at least we wouldn't be alone on this mission. I was so pumped that I curled my hands into fists, "Well alright, no sense waiting around for them to get here. Lets go after The Akatsuki right now!" and with that I started to leave the hospital, until Kakashi-Sensei's question stopped me in my tracks "Ok, but which way are you going? Do you even know where they are Naruko?" I froze "Uh...no" and turned and walked back to Kakashi-Sensei and Baki. As I once more approached them, Kakashi-Sensei turned to Baki and said "If you don't mind my asking, what've been the results so far, of your attempts to pursue The Akatsuki?" that was something I was interested to know as well, Baki sighed and turned to look at Kankuro before saying "First Kankuro went after them by himself, and you see what happened to him." he turned back to us and continued "Then we dispatched a Tracking Unit in pursuit, but as yet we haven't heard back from them. And there's another problem, we believe that, well it appears that Captain Yura, one of our Council of Advisors, has gone missing. We don't even know if he's alive" was he trying to say what I think he was and Kakashi-Sensei voiced what I was thinking "So you're saying...you've completely lost track of The Akatsuki?" and Baki's reply shot my hopes of finding Gaara quickly straight down the toilet "Yes, we have" well this was just great. After we had finished talking one of The Sand's Medical Shinobi called out "Lord Baki, Kankuro has regained consciousness" that was great news, so we all entered the room.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

As we entered the room, I noticed Kankuro was looking around, then Temari said to him "Kankuro, are you alright?" and he turned his head in her direction and said in a strained voice "Temari? You're back already?" she placed her hands on the bed, "I heard the village was in trouble" he closed his eyes briefly, before opening them and saying to her "I'm sorry, to be such a bother. And I'm sorry, I couldn't save Gaara" she leaned forward and said "Shut-up, don't be ridiculous. That isn't your fault". After that I turned to Baki and said "Baki, can you lead me and Sasuke, to where Kankuro's fight with The Akatsuki took place?" he looked at me "Hmm?" and I explained why I had asked that "I'm known for having a pretty good nose for tracking. If even the slightest trace of their scent remains on the scene..." But I was interrupted by Kankuro "There's no need for that" so I looked at him and he was slowly sitting up, once he was upright he addressed Baki, "Where are my puppets Baki? I assume, that my puppets were recovered right? Crow especially?" where was he going with this?. Suddenly Sasuke said "I'm going to inform Sakura that Kankuro's awake. I'll be back in a few minutes" I nodded and off he went.

Sakura's P.O.V:

Two of the Medical Shinobi had come with me, to the greenhouse where all their medicinal herbs were grown. I was already in the process of making the antidote, I said to myself out-loud "I never imagined, that I'd find such a wide variety of medicinal herbs here, in The Hidden Sand Village" and was answered by the Medical Shinobi on my left "Well, we try. Our soil's not very well suited to growing them. We can't grow much Scurvy-Grass for example" I just smiled at him and said "That's alright, there's enough. I can make three doses of antidote" and with that I got back to work, I just hope that Kankuro regains consciousness soon. Just as I thought this, Sasuke walked in and said "Sakura, Kankuro's awake" this had me and the Medical Shinobi gasping in surprise and happiness, I nodded to Sasuke and said "Thank you for informing me of this, Sasuke, I'm making the antidote now. It should be ready by this evening" he nodded and left, now it was definitely time to get to work.

Kankuro's P.O.V:

After I had asked about my puppets, Baki sent for a Shinobi to bring Crow here, once he had he left, and I said to The Leaf Shinobi, who I now knew was Naruko's Sensei, Kakashi Hatake "One fought with me, while the other carried Gaara away. You might be able to follow Gaara's scent, but you can definitely track the one I fought. I made sure of it. You see, I've got his scent right here." and with that I opened Crow's hand, revealing a piece of black cloth "The last thing I did before I passed out, was make sure I got a scrap of his clothing" and he bent down, and took it from Crow's hand then said to me "Even in defeat, you went down fighting. Just what I'd expect from a Sand Shinobi" I smiled, then groaned in pain, as my wound was hurting a lot more because of me sitting up. Then I heard Temari say "Kankuro, what is it?" and I heard someone gasp in either concern or surprise, I wasn't sure. I looked at Temari, then I saw a glimpse of colour out of the corner of my eye "Huh?" I looked in front of me, someone was standing there, but my vision was still a little blurry so I couldn't make out who it was. Temari followed my line of sight and said "Yes, she came all the way from The Leaf Village to help us, just as Baki requested" then my vision began clearing up, and I began to recognise the person standing in front of me "Is that, Naruko Namikaze?" and my vision fully cleared, and there she was. She smiled at me and said "Hey there, Kankuro. It's been a while huh?" I closed my eyes and said to myself "I see" she was here, now I know Gaara can be saved.

Naruko's P.O.V:

After Kankuro closed his eyes Sasuke re-entered the room, then I heard Kakashi-Sensei shout "Summoning Jutsu!" I looked to my left and he had summoned his Ninja Hounds "At your service, eight Ninja Hounds", I approached them with a smile on my face and said "Hey, Pakkun" he turned to me and said "Is that you Naruko? Long time no see" I smiled again "Whoa look at you, you haven't changed a bit" he just chuckled and said "You haven't either" what the "Huh, what are you talking about? I'm a lot taller for one thing" before Pakkun could respond Kakashi-Sensei interrupted us by saying "Alright, alright lets skip the reunion for now, please Naruko" I rubbed the back of my head and said "Oh right, sorry Kakashi-Sensei" he nodded and turned to his hounds whilst holding up the cloth from Kankuro's puppet and saying, "I need you guys to get on this, right away" they all began sniffing it, Pakkun turned to look at him "Hmm?". Sensei's Ninja Hounds were gathered in a circle, sniffing the cloth he was holding in the palm of his hand "Find out which way he went, ok. Go on" and with that they were gone except Pakkun, before he left he said to Kakashi-Sensei "We'll let you know when we find something" then he was gone as well. I heard Sasuke say "They won't let us down" and everyone was quiet for a few moments. Then I said "Ok!" Kankuro turned and looked at me "We move out as soon as Pakkun and his posse get back. So I say we start getting ready" as I began to head for my backpack Kakashi-Sensei said "Not so fast, Naruko" I looked towards his direction, and saw the old man and woman from earlier entering the room, and approaching Kankuro.

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I heard people entering the room but didn't look to see who it was until my name was called "Kankuro", I looked up and was very surprised at who I saw, "Lady Chiyo, and Lord Ebizo, you're here?" Lady Chiyo then said to me "There's something we must know, and only you can tell us. Am I correct in thinking that one of your opponents, the one you fought with was Sasori?" I looked away from her. And Lord Ebizo said to me in a calm and quiet voice "Well speak up, Kankuro" I gave a slight nod of my head and answered them "Yes, Sasori of The Red Sand. He told me so himself", after I said this I noticed Lady Chiyo looking at crow. Then Kakashi addressed them both "Sasori of The Red Sand huh? I get the feeling that you know something about these Akatsuki. Will you tell us?" after that there was silence, until Lady Chiyo said "Sasori is my Grandson, I didn't know that he was a member of this, Akatsuki, until Baki came to ask for our help" then I heard Naruko say "I'm gonna kill Pervy-Sage" everyone turned to her and Baki asked "What do you mean, Naruko? Who's Pervy-Sage?" she turned to him and said "Pervy-Sage is what I call Jiraiya. Whilst I was training with him, we were attacked by two members of The Akatsuki, an unknown member and Sasori. After they fled the battle, I asked him to send word to The Sand Village, to inform you of the information we'd discovered. Obviously that didn't happen, because of that perverts obsession with spying on girls, so that he can write his books" Baki sighed whilst closing his eyes and said "Yes, that sounds like something Master Jiraiya would definitely do" so she'd encountered Sasori in battle too.

Sand Shinobi's P.O.V:

It was evening now, and the Medical Ninja that had arrived with Lady Namikaze had just finished making her antidote, now it was time to test it. One of my fellow Medical Shinobi brought over the testing scroll (don't know what it's called) and I brought over the sample of the toxin, he used a pipette to place a small amount of the toxin into the centre of the scroll. The girl walked to the scroll with her antidote, and placed a single drop of it onto the poison, and the poison disappeared from the scroll and she shouted in joy "It worked. it's ready!" and with that she gathered it and we escorted her to Kankuro's hospital room.

Sakura's P.O.V:

I rushed to Kankuro's room as fast as I could, the antidote firmly in my hands. As I entered the room I shouted "I did it, the antidote is ready and it works!" and everyone gasped in surprise, I quickly poured a cup of it for Kankuro and helped him to drink it, "That's right Kankuro, drink it all." Once he was finished he coughed, and I said after I had placed the cup down "There, you should be alright now. Just lie back and rest, and don't move around until the numbness passes, ok" then I heard Baki say "All of you are going to need rest as well, after your journey here. We've prepared rooms for you, and your comrades Naruko" I turned to look at them, she had turned to Baki and she said in reply "But, but Baki we've gotta go after Gaara" then Kakashi-Sensei spoke "Thanks, we'll take you up on your offer. We may have to travel far and fast tomorrow, so it's best for us to get some rest Naruko" she looked down and said "Ok, you win Kakashi-Sensei"

Kankuro's P.O.V:

As I watched the exchange between, Naruko, Baki and Kakashi, I couldn't help but get mad that I was in this condition, and unable to do anything to help. Gaara needed me and here I was, stuck in a hospital bed and I looked down. As I looked at my right hand, which was shaking because it was taking all the strength I currently had to hold it up, I had various flashbacks to moments I'd spent with Gaara.

_Flashback:_

_"I know what I must do. I must clear my own path, and perhaps then that day will come...the day will come when I can be like her."_

_"Losers, can't tell me what to do" I growled and grabbed the belt for his gourd of sand "Alright, that's enough!" he just looked at me "It's too bad I don't think of you as my Big Brother at all. If you get in my way, I'll kill you"_

_"But she was always pushing me, to redefine those ties. I think I finally understand, the _

_suffering and sadness of life, the joy. These are feelings that can be shared with those around me. It was Namikaze, she's the whole reason my eyes have opened, when we fought we connected, she's known a little of the same pain I have, she taught me that I can change the path my life will follow."_

_Flashback end._

I looked at Naruko, and watched as she took Sakura's bag from her, with a huge smile on her face, then I quietly said her name "Naruko," she turned to me and blinked, and I continued "save my Little Brother will you" and I noticed Baki and Temari's faces turn to ones of surprise, at my request. She smiled at me and said "Don't worry Kankuro, I will. After all I'm gonna be Hokage some day. And for now, The Kazekage can just owe me one". I smiled at this, then Baki led them from my hospital room, so that they could get some rest. Hopefully we'll know the enemy's location by morning, then they can move out.

Naruko's P.O.V:

As Baki led us to the rooms we'd be staying in, I couldn't help but think to myself _'Please hurry Pakkun. We need the location of our enemy and Gaara A.S.A.P'_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Lady Chiyo's determination and a familiar enemy appears

Pakkun's P.O.V:

I had been running all night, tracking the scent of the enemy, as I approached The Land of Rivers, that bordered The Leaf and The Sand, I started picking up Gaara's scent as well. I came to the edge of a cliff, and in front of me, was a cave blocked by a huge boulder that looked like it had a seal of some kind on it. I sniffed the air once more, and both Gaara's scent and the scent of the enemy were coming strongly from the direction of the cave "So, they're in there" I kept looking at the entrance "If I get any closer I might be spotted" and with that I turned and headed back towards The Sand Village to report my findings to Kakashi.

Lady Chiyo's P.O.V:

I had decided that I was going with the Leaf Shinobi, to save The Kazekage. I knew, that with Sasori involved I would need two special puppets along with my own, the two I would need, were the very first puppets that Sasori ever created, The Mother and The Father. I took out the key for the room where all of our puppets were stored, and unlocked the door. Light filled the room, for the first time in years, illuminating the box which held the scrolls of Sasori's first creations. As I entered the room, I heard footsteps in the corridor, I had a feeling it was my Brother. I unlocked the box that held Sasori's puppets, once they were revealed I heard my Brother say from behind me "Hey Sis, you're going to take those with you?" I was quiet for a few seconds before I answered him "Fate has arranged our meeting, if I'm going to see him, I'll be needing these. I have lived a long life" and with that, I took the puppet scrolls, and left the room, locked the door once more and headed out of the building.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

It was morning now, and Pakkun had just returned and informed me of what he'd found, as he pointed to The Land of Rivers I asked him "Hm, you're sure that's where their hideout is?" he nodded and said "It seems more than likely, since Gaara's scent was coming from there as well." that was a little reassuring "I see. I've got one more favour to ask you." he looked at me, a little confused "Huh?" I told him what I wanted him to do, as I finished explaining his new task I was distracted by Naruko yelling out "Whoa!" Pakkun and I looked over only to see that she had rolled out of bed. She sat up holding her head saying "Oh that hurts my head." and Pakkun decided to announce his presence "Oh Naruko, you're up." she turned in our direction, immediately noticed him and said "Huh? Hey Pakkun!" I interrupted at this point, we didn't have time for them to chat "Alright, better get moving Pakkun." He looked at me, then back to Naruko and said "I'll see you around, Naruko." And with that he left. Naruko got back onto her bed, and watched out of the window as Pakkun left The Sand Village again, as I began strapping my kunai pouch to my leg, she turned to me and asked "Kakashi-Sensei, does this mean that they found where The Akatsuki are hiding out?" I told her as I stood up "Yup, get ready Naruko, 'cause we're moving out" she nodded and I left the room so that she could get ready, and went to meet up with Sasuke and Sakura to brief them on the information Pakkun had given me.

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I was resting, but was awakened by Temari shouting "What, Gaara?! You're sure?!" did they have a lead? I turned my head towards the entrance to the room and heard someone else talking as well, one of our Shinobi must be with her "Yes ma'am. They found where The Akatsuki have taken him. The Leaf Village Shinobi are getting ready to move out" that was great news, I heard her reply "So will we. I want you to put together a Pursuit Squad, and be quick" so she wanted to go with Naruko and the others, I heard the Shinobi she was talking to say "Right" then I heard his footsteps as he left to assemble a Squad. No way was I missing out on this, I began to sit up and I called out her name "Temari!" she ran in, when she saw me trying to get up she said "Kankuro what do you think you're doing? You're not going anywhere, you need to rest!" I looked at her in shock, was she serious? Judging by the look in her eyes she was, she held up a fist and said "I give you my word I'll get Gaara back" I just stared at her, but her determination wasn't fading at all so I just gave her a smile, and she smiled right back then left to get ready.

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were assembled outside of the building we'd stayed the night in, when Kakashi-Sensei spoke "Seems we'll be working in conjunction with a Squad from The Sand Village. As soon as they're here, we'll head out" then I heard footsteps approaching and then Temari's voice "Sorry to keep you waiting" we turned, and there she was with a group of Sand Shinobi. Sakura then said in surprise "Oh, Temari" and Sasuke added after her "If that's everybody?" I nodded and said "Ok, there's no time to waste, let's get this show on the road" then Baki appeared "Wait!" we looked at him, he nodded to our team then turned to Temari and said "Temari, you and your group are to stay here. Patrol the perimeter" this had us all gasping in surprise, then she said in response to what Baki had just said to her "Are you kidding me or what?!" he just looked down and said "Orders, from above" and she gasped, so The Council was behind this decision huh? Baki then continued "If word gets out that The Kazekage is missing, our enemies may use it as an opportunity, to launch an attack on the village." One of Temari's female Squad members spoke after this "Come on!" then Temari added onto that and she was clearly trying to hold back her anger and frustration "Don't you get it!? That's all the more reason we have to get him back as quickly as we can! Look at these Leaf Shinobi, they left their village and came all the way here just to help us rescue Gaara! And Gaara's not even their leader, he's our Kazekage. The Sand Shinobi should be the one's to save him!" he just looked down and said with a voice that to me sounded full of regret "I'm sorry" then suddenly a voice yelled out "Well I'm going!" we all looked up, and there standing on the roof of the building we'd been staying in, was the old lady who'd tried to attack Kakashi-Sensei yesterday. Seriously she wanted to come with us? She yelled down to us all again "If a Sand Shinobi is needed, then I'm the one to go!" Temari then said her name in surprise "Granny Chiyo?" and Baki added after her "But, but you're so..." he didn't finish and the old la… I mean Lady Chiyo then said in response to him "I'm retired yes. Which means of course that I'm free to do whatever I want" then the same Shinobi that spoke after Baki initially told Temari and her Squad they weren't going with us yelled up to her, "Yes but, the journey will be difficult!" and Chiyo yelled right back with "Bah, don't treat me like a fossil!" and then she…LEAPT OFF OF THE BUILDING!. Was this woman crazy, as she got nearer to the ground I yelled out "What in the?!" Sasuke, Sakura and myself leaned out of the way in shock, expecting her to be hurt or worse when she landed, only for her to land on the ground in a crouch, perfectly fine, Kakashi-Sensei just looked like Gai-Sensei had challenged him to something ridiculous, then Chiyo said whilst standing "After all, it's been a while since I doted on my adorable grandchild" and with that we headed to the main gate of the village.

Temari's P.O.V:

Naruko's team, along with Lady Chiyo were now outside of the village, they were facing us, Naruko's Sensei addressed Baki "Alright, we'll head out on our own then" Baki nodded and said to him "Thank you, I'll try to convince The Council to change their mind" and I added after him "Don't worry, we'll catch up with you" it was Naruko who replied to me "Ha, Temari, by the time you could catch up with us, we'll have already rescued Gaara" well somebody was confident, then Sakura said to me "We'll see you soon" and with that they left, and we could only watch as they became nothing more than specks on the horizon.

Kankuro's P.O.V:

I couldn't take this anymore, here Naruko and her team, and the Shinobi of our village were doing everything they could to find and save Gaara, and I'm stuck in the hospital. I held up my hand whilst saying to myself "Oh man, I hate this! I'm the one who should go after Gaara. If it weren't for these injuries" and I looked down, closing my eyes, and gritting my teeth in frustration at myself for being so reckless in chasing after and engaging the enemy in battle, without knowing their strength.

Gai's P.O.V:

We had been moving as fast as we could since we left the village, then from behind me I heard Tenten shout "Hey slow down a little! We've been going at full speed since we started! Would it kill us to take a little rest?!" it was Lee that answered her "Tenten, you are really not training hard enough" if that was true maybe I needed to make their training a little tougher, suddenly Neji shouted "Lee, up ahead!" we all stopped moving, the leaves in the tree opposite us were rustling, and then a Ninja Hound appeared "Hey Gai, wait!" I recognised that voice immediately "Pakkun!" if he was here, that could only mean he had a message from my eternal rival, Kakashi.

Naruko's P.O.V:

We were moving through a forest now, Sasuke and I were at the head of the group, behind us were Kakashi-Sensei and Lady Chiyo and Sakura was bringing up the rear. Suddenly Sasuke said to me "Naruko, can I ask you a question? How long do you think The Akatsuki have been after you?" his question caused me to gasp in shock, I looked down and an image of Itachi and his partner Kisame appeared at the forefront of my mind, but I still answered him "Honestly, I don't know, Sasuke" and after I'd answered, I knew everyone had heard his question because Kakashi-Sensei said after me "Two members of The Akatsuki came to The Leaf looking for Naruko once. But it's been three years since then, and no sign of them. And now they're back" Sakura asked her own question once he'd finished "But why do you think they waited so long to make another move?" I had to admit I was curious about that as well. Then Kakashi-Sensei answered her with "It could be, they wanted to act before this but for some reason they couldn't. Maybe because Master Jiraiya was around, and they didn't wanna face him" then Lady Chiyo added her thoughts into the mix "That's not it. From what I've learned, there was an entirely different reason they had to wait this long" what was she talking about, Sakura asked her about it "What reason?" and Lady Chiyo explained "If you're going to try and draw out the Tailed-Beast that dwells within, a great deal of preparation is involved. They just needed some more time" draw out…the Tailed-beast? Sasuke then asked "What are you talking about?" and the Sakura asked right after him "What Tailed-Beast?" and Lady Chiyo answered her "My, my, you're a student of that old Slug Queen Tsunade, and you don't even know that? When The Leaf itself is host to The Nine-Tailed Fox?" this had us all gasping in shock, how did she know that. Kakashi-Sensei decided to speak to her at this point "The Nine-Tailed Fox is not something we talk about outside of the village. It's considered top-secret" Lady Chiyo just said "Really? Well not surprising I guess." and then she explained for Sakura "Tailed-Beasts are demon spirit's with one or more tails. The Sand, have had a single Tailed-Beast since long ago. That's the Shukaku sealed within Gaara" I had a feeling what question would be coming next, and I was proved right as Sakura asked it "So then, there's more of these demon spirit's?" and Lady Chiyo gave her a very detailed answer that made all of us think hard about the situation "Oh yes, there are a total of nine of them in the world. Each with distinct characteristics, and each with a different number of tails. The demon beast of the sand with it's single tail, a two-tailed spirit, three-tailed and so on, all the way up to The Nine-Tailed Fox of The Leaf. The beasts are huge concentrations of Chakra, and during the great war, every nation competed for control of them for military purposes. They fought relentlessly over them, but the Tailed-Beasts powers were beyond human imagining. No one could control them. I don't know the intentions of The Akatsuki, but that kind of power is far too dangerous for anyone to get a hold of. Eventually with the coming of peace, the Tailed-Beasts were forgotten. But nether the less they still exist, all nine of them scattered over the world" I then realised that if The Akatsuki were hunting the holders of all the Tailed-Beasts, they'd soon go after Yugito and Bee. Yugito would obviously be their next target as she held the Two-Tailed Cat, I would have to send a message to the Raikage once we got back to The Leaf, no way was I not informing him about The Akatsuki after he'd agreed to let the Jinchuriki of his village help me control The Nine-Tails.

Gai's P.O.V:

Pakkun had just finished explaining the current situation to us, then he explained why he was here "Kakashi sent eight of us Ninja Hounds out to scour the countryside, and try to pick up The Akatsuki Organizations scent. Well we soon discovered, they were headed for The Land of Rivers, bordering The Leaf and The Sand" that was interesting, why would they pick a place so close to both our villages, Neji responded to what Pakkun had just said by asking "The Land of Rivers?" Pakkun just nodded then said "That's right. And since your squad is on it's way from The Leaf Village to The Sand, I guess this is your lucky day you're the closest. If you could call it lucky" this had us all gasping before Lee spoke up saying "Alright then" with that Pakkun stood up and said to us "I'll show you the way. Follow me and I'll explain the rest as we go" to which I nodded and said "Right, you heard him everyone. Let's move out" then of course Tenten complained by saying "What, already?!" and with that we were on the move again.

Akatsuki Leader's P.O.V:

We were all focusing on the Jutsu and extracting the One-Tail, when Zetsu spoke "Our location has been discovered. The enemy approaches" so they'd found us already? Deidara spoke up after Zetsu "Which enemy is that?" and the reply he got was "A very skilled, and dangerous one. His name is Might Gai" I'd never heard of him, so I asked "Might Gai, who is he?" and Itachi was the one to answer me "An elite Leaf Shinobi. A master of Taijutsu, don't underestimate him" and Kisame added after him "Ahh, that strange beast again" looks like it was time to use our new Jutsu "We'll use _that_ Jutsu against him" after I said this one of our members said "I'll go. Let me take care of him. It'll give me a chance to make up for failing to find a Jinchuriki host" before I could answer him Kisame said "No, leave him to me, you see I know him. I have a personal score to settle with him" well I guess my decision was made already, with Kisame having the most Chakra of all of us, it was better to send him anyway, so I told him, "Yes, as you have the most Chakra of any of The Akatsuki, you're probably the most suitable to employ that Jutsu. Very well Kisame" he just replied with "Excellent" then I told him what I would need from him in his absence "But I'll still require 30% of your Chakra here" and with that I focused on the task at hand once more.

Kisame's P.O.V:

Now I would finally be able to fight that beast again "Well, well finally. I've been waiting to pay him back for that kick he gave me" and I had a flashback to when I'd first encountered him in The Leaf Village.

_Flashback:_

_I was headed towards the Shinobi that had just fought with Itachi, to finish him off when a voice yelled out "Severe Leaf Hurricane" and I was kicked in the face, so hard that I was pushed back to Itachi's side. As I recovered from the blow I looked at our new opponent and said "Well, who have we here?" and he replied with "The Leaf Village's fiercest beast of battle, I'm Might Gai"_

_Flashback end._

I chuckled knowing I would finally be able to pay him back.

Gai's P.O.V:

We were now running over what looked like a dried out river, when suddenly Pakkun began scenting the air so I asked him "What is it Pakkun?" his response was "Someone's coming!" and myself and my team gasped in surprise. A few seconds later I heard Neji shout "Byakugan!" he was searching for whoever or whatever was approaching our location, then he yelled something that immediately caused us all to stop "It's behind us!" we all turned to face the direction in which he was looking, when something wrapped in gauze erupted from the ground and started heading towards us "Huh?" we barely managed to dodge as it struck the place we had just been standing, shattering an entire boulder to dust. As the dust began to settle the silhouette of a man appeared through the dust, "Huh? Wait a minute?" this guy looked a little familiar, but I couldn't remember where I'd met him, from beside me Lee asked "You know this person, Gai-Sensei?" but I didn't answer him, as I couldn't really remember where I'd met this man, so I asked him "Who are you?" and everything became silent.

Akatsuki Leader's P.O.V:

The sealing of the One-Tail was going well, then Zetsu said "More intruders" I looked at Deidara and said to him "You didn't cover your tracks very well, did you Deidara?" he just gave me an uneasy glance and said in response "Uh well, as I said the Jinchuriki host, proved more powerful than we thought hm" then Sasori added his personal opinion of his partner into the mix "You're a bumbler and a fool. Your methods are too crude for any sort of secret operation" and here we go again with those two "Crude, huh! Those clumsy traps of your's were hardly subtle my friend! Hm" Sasori wouldn't like that comment "Why you!" I interrupted before a full fight could break out between them "Stop bickering amongst yourselves. Focus on the Jutsu, now then who to send this time?" and again the same member that wanted to go after Might Gai spoke up "Me. This time it must be me" but Zetsu spoke before I could "This time a Leaf Shinobi should go" and only one of our members was an Ex-Leaf Shinobi, Itachi "Very well, it's decided then"

Kakashi's P.O.V:

We were approaching a clearing, when I suddenly felt a Chakra Signature. Looking up as we began to enter the clearing, I saw the one person I hoped I'd never meet again after our first encounter. Knowing that he was probably here to delay us I stopped my team immediately "Everybody stop!" once they did, I heard Sasuke and Naruko gasping in shock, then Sakura asked aloud "Who's that?" no one answered her _'So soon'_ from beside me I heard Naruko growl and say "I know you!" this was not good, she was losing her cool, just from the sight of our opponent. Then I heard Sasuke whisper "Of all the times for him to show up, it had to be now" and I couldn't help but agree with him, this was the worst possible time for an enemy Shinobi to appear.

Neji's P.O.V:

I couldn't believe what I was seeing thanks to my Byakugan. I never imagined I'd ever meet someone else like Naruko, this mans Chakra Reserves were the same as hers, maybe more. I said aloud to my team "Unreal, his Chakra level is off the charts! I've never seen anyone but Naruko with that much Chakra" it was Lee that responded to what I had just said by saying in shock "_That much_!". Then our opponent addressed Gai-Sensei "Your memory's as bad as your haircut" it was obvious that they'd met before from what this guy was saying, but our Sensei on the other hand, I wasn't too sure his memory was the best at this point "Can it be that you're?" well maybe I was wrong about Gai-Sensei's memory "You've finally remembered, have you?" our enemy must've thought that to, then Sensei proved just how unintelligent he can be "You've met me somewhere before?" good grief it's clear they have '_Why, out of all the Jounin in The Leaf, did I have to get this one as a Sensei? And what's worse, thanks to Lee, Tenten and I have to deal with practically two of him_' "It's no wonder you're called a beast, your intelligence is certainly sub-human. Well, don't worry I'll refresh your memory soon enough" looks like we'll have to beat him if we want to catch up with Naruko's team anytime soon.

Sakura's P.O.V:

We were just standing there, looking at this man, when from beside Kakashi-Sensei, Sasuke identified who he was "Itachi Uchiha!" I gasped, so this was him, Sasuke's older brother, and Naruko's tormentor '_That's, that's him! That's Itachi Uchiha_' I was shocked at how much he and Sasuke looked alike, as this was the first time I'd ever seen Itachi, then I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Naruko trembling, and judging by the fact she was gritting her teeth and her fists were clenched, it was definitely out of anger not fear.

Sasuke's P.O.V:

Of all the times for him to appear, it had to be now. I stepped forward, getting ready in case a fight began '_Itachi_' then Lady Chiyo spoke "So, that's the one. The child who was framed, for wiping out his entire clan" I guess news of the truth of The Uchiha Massacre travelled fast once it was discovered, after that Itachi spoke for the first time, since we'd entered the clearing "Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruko. It's been a while" what was he up to? He was obviously here for a reason, but what?

Sakura's P.O.V:

We were just staring at each other, then I noticed his eyes '_His Sharingan, it's the same as Sasuke's! So he's the one who's been hounding Naruko all this time!_'

Kakashi's P.O.V:

As we all stood watching Itachi, I realised that his partner wasn't with him. It was possible he was intercepting Gai's team, or he could've been hiding in the forest waiting to strike. Then Naruko addressed him "I wasn't enough for you huh? You had to go after Gaara as well! I'll destroy every last one of you!" just as I was about too turn to her and tell her to calm down, I noticed Itachi moving his hands, once he made a Hand-sign I realized he might be about to perform a Genjutsu so I yelled out to Lady Chiyo and my team "Everyone, whatever you do don't look him in the eyes!" everyone gasped in surprise at my outburst. After a few moments of silence I explained why I'd told them not to look in his eyes "Itachi's Genjutsu is a visual Jutsu. Which means, avoid eye contact with him and his Jutsu can't take effect" as began watching his movements I noticed him take his hands out from the Hand-sign he'd made, before I warned everyone else. Naruko said from beside Sasuke "Yeah that I know" and Sasuke nodded in agreement with her, then Sakura asked me "Ok but then, how are we supposed to fight him?" and I'll admit that was a hard one to answer "That's the tricky part" then I had a flashback to when I'd asked Gai about that after our first encounter with him.

_Flashback:_

_"Gai, how did you fight Itachi?" I was curious to know how he'd done it without being caught in his Genjutsu "Hm?" he turned towards me "There's only one way"_

_Flashback end._

I then continued by telling Sakura and the other's the same thing Gai told me "You have to anticipate his moves, by watching his feet, his body", then Sasuke said after me "But that's like fighting with one arm tied behind your back. Even if it is the only way to fight him" and I couldn't help but agree.

Naruko's P.O.V:

I was getting more aggravated with the situation, the longer we stood here, the more worried I was getting about Gaara, I felt in my gut that something terrible was happening to him. But there was no way of fighting Itachi without possibly being caught in his Genjutsu, Damn it. Then from beside me Lady Chiyo spoke "The Uchiha Clan eh. It's been a long time since I've gone up against the Sharingan" I turned to her in surprise "Huh?" she must of seen my face because she said "Don't look so surprised, I've been around. And I know there's more than one way to fight a visual Jutsu like that" so, did that mean she knew a different way to fight the Sharigan? I asked her "Yeah, like what then?" and what she said in reply confused me a hell of a lot "If one against one abandon the field. If two against one take the rear and he'll yield" ok what the hell did that do, to explain it to me "What's that mean?" and she explained it better "Well the first part of it is pretty self explanatory isn't it? The Sharingan can never be beaten in single combat. But, if you outnumber the Sharingan user, if the battle is two against one, then even if one of you is caught in his Genjutsu, the other is free to strike from the rear breaking the Genjutsu's spell. Even if your attack from the rear should fail somehow, you're still free to strike your comrade yourself, and break the Genjutsu that way." Ok that definitely made more sense to me "So while one of us fights him face to face as a distraction, the rest of us will mount a series of attacks from the rear, where his Sharingan can't reach" that was a good idea, then Sakura said "Good plan" and Sasuke nodded. I looked to Lady Chiyo and said to her "I guess you learn a lot of stuff like that, if you live long enough" and I turned my attention once more to Itachi. I took a small step forward and said to everyone "Let's go, I'll take the rear" as I began moving forward again I was stopped by Kakashi-Sensei's arm and him saying "Wait!" I turned to look at him, I was confused as to why he'd stopped me.

Kakashi's P.O.V:

I knew I had confused Naruko, a few minutes after I had stopped her from advancing towards Itachi she said to me "Ok Sensei, we're waiting. But what are we waiting for?" I was thinking of the simplest way to explain my reason for stopping her when Lady Chiyo asked "Do you have a problem with my way of fighting the Sharingan? Are you suggesting my methods won't work?" I answered her immediately "No, they work fine against ordinary Genjutsu. But what we're dealing with here is something, much more complicated" as soon as I finished she asked "Meaning what?" it was Sasuke that answered her "My brother uses Mangekyo Sharingan. It's far more powerful than any other visual Jutsu." once he'd finished I continued on with what I remembered from my experience with that particular Jutsu "It only takes a second, but if he hits you with that Jutsu, it'll be the longest second you ever lived. Time itself gets warped, what seems like a second in the real world can be hours or days to someone trapped in his Jutsu. I know, I wandered around in it for three days, and lost consciousness for more than a week. It's not a Genjutsu that can be broken just like that" it was quiet for a few seconds before Lady Chiyo said "That does sound tricky. What a troublesome fellow this is" then Itachi spoke once more "Very good Kakashi. I see your experience in my Tsukiyomi wasn't wasted" well that wasn't all I'd learned so I told him "Oh believe me, I learned something else as well. There's a price to pay for using that Sharingan. It exhausted you didn't it? You had to quit before the battle was over"

_Flashback:_

_"Itachi, you've risked overusing your eyes. You know that's dangerous"_

_"We're not here to fight a full scale battle. Tempting as it may be, it's not the way to do this. Let's go"_

_Flashback end._

"So in addition to using up a lot of Chakra, you risk permanent damage to your eyes every time you use that Jutsu, don't you Itachi?" he spoke once more after I'd finished "You seem to have learned a great deal, from our one brief encounter" I closed my eyes and grabbed my Headband "I wonder...just how much damage, has already been done to your eyesight" and with that I revealed my Sharingan, and saw him widen his eyes in shock.

Itachi's P.O.V:

I closed my eyes after Kakashi had said his piece. Could he really have figured out that much since our one meeting. I opened my eyes to look at him as I thought to myself '_Kakashi, could it be that you?_'

Naruko's P.O.V:

So using his Sharingan was possibly damaging Itachi's eyes huh? As myself and the others looked at him Kakashi-Sensei spoke up "I underestimated you back then, I admit it. But I am not the fool I used to be. Things aren't gonna go the same way this time, I promise you that" he made a good point, things were a lot different now to when I'd first met Itachi. I smirked and said "Hm, yeah and don't go thinking I'm the same kid either. A lot of things have changed since then" I took a step forward when Kakashi-Sensei said "Naruko, leave him to me" and I couldn't help but immediately remember our first C-Rank mission to The Land of Waves '_This is just like the last time_' and I had a flashback to when we'd encountered Zabuza Momochi, for the first time on that mission.

_Flashback:_

_"Now quick, Manji Formation. Protect the bridge builder, and stay out of this fight" what was Kakashi-Sensei talking about "Huh?" that was Sakura then Kakashi-Sensei said "I taught you teamwork, now it's time to use it"_

_Flashback end._

No way was he doing this again, so I said to Kakashi-Sensei "Not again. Not that kind of teamwork where we sit back and do nothing!" what he said in response made me smile "No, this time you cover me" and Sasuke gasped in surprise while Sakura just said "Huh?" then Kakashi-Sensei continued "I wish I could say '_You guys go on ahead, I can handle this alone_'. But I never make the same mistake twice" I nodded and turned to face Itachi once more "Hmm. Good to know" then Itachi pointed at me and said "It's time you came with me, Naruko" and that's the last thing I remember before everything went black.


End file.
